Shadow Spartan II
by elfpricess
Summary: Kat -original character- returns to fight with Master Chief against the Covenant and a 2nd ring world. The game of luck has begun but will a new player make Kat falter?
1. Chapter 1  Luck

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or any characters.

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_'Luck is not something you should overlook. It's decided by chance and can either be good or bad for you. Usually all one will hear about is the good luck. Well unfortunately for me, bad luck follows me like my shadow. It's ironic though, how the Covenant captured me, a Spartan, and changed me into a weapon called the Shadow which so happened to be the embodiment of bad luck, a black cat. That's the ironic part, since black cats symbolize bad luck that's all I've had since…oh, way back then. My luck did seem to change when I was rescued from the Covenant's control liquid but then I was taken out of active duty so I could be studied. Now that I think about it, all the good luck I've had in the past is always followed shortly by bad. I should try to change that. Maybe turn my luck around and instead of receiving back luck I should start dealing it out to those Covenant bastards. But then there's the problem with being out of active duty and being tested on like a lab rat…' _

"Repeat again what you remember doing during the destruction of Cyline city." An old man said in a raspy voice, his face was wrinkled with wear and his hair was white as bed sheets. He sat in a metal chair with his elbows on a metal table and his folded hands covering the calculating smirk. The room was dimly lit, with the overhead lights turned down lower than normal, allowing shadows to gather in the edges of the room. A door stood behind the old man, the only hope of an exit.

"Sir, I have repeated that story 27 times in great detail over the past month." A woman on the opposite side of the table said in a smooth, calm voice. She had dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail and was cut just below her shoulders. Her uniform was a simple gray that did not show her rank or even her name. The sun had not touched her skin in years but she still had a slight brown tone. Her face was clear of any emotion as she stared into the old man's eyes without flinching; it didn't even appear she was blinking. Her eyes were different though, they were tinted a light yellow and in the dim light they seemed to be glowing.

"Are you refusing to obey an order?" The old man asked, his eyes twinkling at success.

"No sir, I'm just stating a fact." The woman replied and the man's face turned to a despising frown.

"Well repeat the story another time." The man huffed, his eyes now flashing as if set on fire. The woman calmly breathed in through her nose and started the story for the 28th time. Her eyes were watching the man as she spoke, gauging his mood and watching his emotions change in his eyes.

_This man hates Spartans; even one's who used to be Spartans. He has tried for weeks to make me slip up in one of his "questioning" sessions. All he's looking for is one little change in the story or one disrespectful comment and then he'll publicize that so I'll be removed permanently from the military. He undervalues a Spartan's memory though. I have this whole speech memorized._

Half an hour later the man released a heavy breath and dropped his gaze to the table top a second before returning his eyes to the woman. "You are dismissed." He said in a strong tone.

The woman stood swiftly and immediately two things were noticeable. One was her height; she was just above 6 feet while other Spartans were taller than 7 feet. The second thing noticeable was the black tail coming out of her tail bone and swaying from side to side at times. The woman saluted and the man nodded, releasing her from his command and allowing her to walk swiftly out the door in a smooth, controlling gate.

The woman stepped out the door and turned to the right where a marine stood at ease. He had dark tanned skin and was young, just about leaving his teen years. This marine had been assigned to aid her in getting to her schedule appointments, as if she needed a babysitter. He was a new recruit that had never seen battle yet and was still in need of some basic training, so she had a special nickname for him.

"Sorry that took so long, Rookie." The woman said in a silky voice as the marine looked up at her emotionless face.

"That's alright, Shadow, ma'am." Rookie said with a smile as he started walking down the hallway with her.

_Yes, that has become my name now. Shadow, a name given to me by the Convent is now my permanent nickname. Oh how lucky I am._

"Uh, ma'am you have no other tests today and have plenty of time to kill. What are you going to do?"

"I wasn't trained to kill time, Rookie." Shadow replied dryly as she looked over at him through the corner of her eye.

"Well you have to do something for the next eight hours." Rookie said with a sigh, he was used to these conversations now.

Shadow inwardly sighed and stopped in the middle of one of stations rest areas where there were trees and small gardens throughout. Her yellow gaze shifted up to the stars above her and she seemed distant in her thoughts until her ears caught the sound of a television. She stepped forward some and spotted it up in a corner of a slightly enclosed area with a few marines sitting on a couch watching it.

"_We have new reports on the Shadow story."_ The blonde haired reporter said with a distasteful tone only few could pick up on. _"It has bee confirmed that Shadow is the one responsible for the massacre at Cyline City and was indeed one of the Spartans. In this announcement from one of the top military critics, it is clear that even they do not wish to keep Shadow around." _The screen switched to the old white haired man Shadow had just spoken to. _"Shadow is just a delinquent soldier that will be disciplined for their actions and will definitely not be put in any situation in which they might hurt any human again." _The screen switched back to the reporter who cleared her throat to cover up the scowl that had been on her face for half a second. _"There are others who think differently of this Shadow and express their dislike clearly." _A different man came up on the screen surrounded by others who were holding signs with a black cat and an X across it. _"Shadow should be put to death! I don't care if they were a Spartan if they were the one responsible for thousands of deaths then the death penalty is taking it easy on them. She needs to suffer!" _

Shadow's fists shook with her rage as she grinded her teeth. This was unbearable! She was not responsible for any of those deaths. It had been the Covenant that had controlled her! Shadow whirled around and was stomping out the door when the reporter's voice came on again. _"Wait! It seems we have update coming in now." _Shadow stopped and turned her head to see the reporter with her hand over her ear. _"Through a reliable military source we have been given the identity of Shadow."_ Shadow's eyes widened and she turned back around. _"Shadow is Spartan 108 or known by some as the Spartan of the People."_

"What?" Shadow hissed at the TV as it showed her picture in one of the old newspapers when she received a medal. Everyone in the rest area turned towards her but Shadow barely noticed as she furiously whipped around and stormed out into the hallway.

"Ma'am!" Rookie said desperately as he scurried next to her. "Ma'am, please calm down. What if someone saw y-?"

"You!" Shadow hissed behind clenched teeth and the Rookie looked up to see the old man in front of them. "You gave away classified information to the public!"

The old man smirked and lowered his head slightly as if he were praising her for figuring it out so quickly. "That information has become unclassified."

"What? Why?" Shadow demanded.

"Someone has to take the blame for the destruction of Cyline City."

"T-the Covenant are the ones to blame!" Shadow said with an edge to her voice.

"Yes, but the public will be suspicious if we blame everything on the Covenant and you are partly to blame."

"Oh yeah, how's that?" Shadow asked acidly, her golden eyes narrowing.

"You had almost ten chances to escape when you were taken aboard the Covenant vessel." The man said coolly, greatly enjoying Shadows anger.

"And all ten of those chances would have meant leaving behind innocent civilians." Shadow struck back, barely containing the rage burning her chest.

"Yes, but if you had left twenty people behind you would have saved thousands of lives."

"I wasn't trained to leave men behind, sir." Shadow shot back, already feeling her anger dying.

"Yes, but you were trained to kill and that's just what the Covenant used you for against your own allies."

"Who are my allies, sir?" Shadow asked sharply, watching the old man's eyes search for an answer and when he didn't respond right away Shadow pounced. "Are my allies the ones who stare whenever I pass or curse my name when I enter a room? Are they the ones who only wish to make me suffer and to see me dead? Would they even betray me?" Shadow's voice rose at the end but when she spoke again her tone was soft and calculating. "To me that sounds more like my enemy, sir." She said, emphasizing the sir at the end and clearing her face of emotion but there was still a hint of her rage in her eyes as she watched the old man struggle to speak.

Shadow strode past the man, shooting a gaze at him when they past before setting her unmoving gaze in front of her. She heard Rookie scurry after her but barely slowed down when she turned the corner and reached one of the trolleys that moved between the different sections of the station. It was occupied but Shadow stepped in and crossed her arms, glaring out the window at the earth that was against her.

"You really need to calm down, Kat." A deep and composed voice said beside her.

Shadow could feel her stomach flutter and her eyes widened. Her gaze shifted to the side and fixed on Master Chief sitting calmly on a seat. "Ah…uh, Chief…" Kat began as she turned towards him and let her arms drop. "I…I'm sorry, sir." She said in a voice full of remorse as she looked into his brown eyes. This wasn't how a Spartan was to act, even one who had fallen from that pedestal.

"What happened now?" He asked, studying her face as she turned towards a panel and tapped a few buttons. The same blonde reporter appeared and Kat's face was still beside her shoulder with a headline below that that read, 'Shadow is Spartan 108.' The reporter was in the middle of interviewing someone, _"How do you feel about Shadow being a Spartan?"_ The woman asked and switched over to a professional looking person, _"Well from the start I knew UNSC was wrong in putting Spartans on the battle field but THIS, this has gone too far-"_

Shadow switched off the TV and turned back to Chief. "I am sorry sir. I have only smeared the good name of the Spartans."

"How did they get that information about you?"

"It has apparently been deemed unclassified since they need to blame someone for the massacre at Cyline city and the Covenant were only half the reason it fell." Shadow replied, shifting her gaze back to the earth because the very thought of it was making her blood boil again.

"They don't know the whole story Kat." Chief said in a commanding tone, forcing Kat to look back at him.

"I know but I…" Shadow stopped and her shoulder lost some its rigidness. "I don't know what to do. I am fighting for and against my enemy and I can't even do what I was meant to do any more." She said softly, unsure if she should be sharing this with the Chief.

"It'll work out Kat," Chief said in his deep voice while standing and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Your luck will change."

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Well starting off the sequel – took me long enough. It didn't really start with a bang, but I'm trying to connect it with the game now. Hopefully I can make a few impressions and I can pull a good story out of this. I have a forum here but still learning how to use it so if all else fails, review!


	2. Chapter 2 Gotta Love Trolley Rides

Not to call Master Chief an oracle or anything, but his prediction actually started to come true. Sure it started out rough but that's what makes it fun to stay along for the ride. Kat and Rookie were riding on a glass trolley through the Cario station. Kat had just finished being "tested" again and now were on their way to a meeting with Dr. Tyler. Rookie sat in one of the seats on the side while Shadow stood in the middle, gazing out at the blue earth as the trolley seemed to move turtle slow (and there is nothing wrong with turtles moving slow-just takes longer).

"Why does Dr. Tyler's office have to be on the other side of the station?" Rookie suddenly interrupted her thoughts about turtle racing. "This is going to take too long…" He said in a nonchalant murmur. Kat gazed at him from the corner of her eye; she knew what he was suggesting. Her black tail rose and pressed a button on a panel behind her and Cortona's blue face, streaming with white numbers, appeared on the glass in front of her.

"You need something, Shadow?" Cortona asked, using the name that the Covenant had given Kat. It was the name that almost everyone called her by now and she had grown used to it.

"Rookie was wondering if he could watch Chief's ceremony if it wouldn't be too much trouble for you." Kat said in a smooth tone.

"The press cameras aren't allowed on the bridge." Cortona replied simply.

"I wasn't talking about those cameras." Shadow said, her lips twitching into a smirk.

"Oh, then of course it's not too much trouble." Cortona replied with a wink and her face disappeared. In its place a security camera view appeared.

"Whoa! Master Chief looks even cooler than before!" Rookie said in an awed whisper as he stared wide eyed at the video feed of Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson ridding in a glass trolley like they were in.

"Aw come on Rookie, I'm just as cool as Master Chief but I don't see you awed in my presence." Shadow joked, her smirk still on her face.

"Yeah, I know your cool but _you_ didn't defeat millions of Covenant and blow up a ring world all by yourself." Rookie said, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"So you're saying I haven't done anything as important as Chief has for the war." Kat stated in a plain tone and a frown now on her face. Shadow couldn't help but think that she _really_ hadn't done anything vital in the war. In fact, she had probably done more bad than good.

"Yeah." Rookie replied off handed, mesmerized by Master Chief walking out of the trolley and unaware of what he just agreed to.

"I see…" Kat murmured, her eyes half closed as if she was telling herself 'I told you so.'

"Uh…no! Wait! I didn't mean that!" Rookie burst out when he realized his mistake, his eyes finally leaving he screen to look at Kat. "You've done a ton for the war! I'm sure you amount for 20 good men on the battle-"

"That must be the new Mark VI…" Shadow interrupted in a murmur, gazing at Master Chief's new armor as he stood at attention on the bridge. "Looks nice…" Kat said quietly to herself.

"Shadow, I didn't mean what I said-"

"Oh, don't worry Rookie." Kat interrupted again. "I know you didn't mean that and I forgive you for not hurting my feelings."

Suddenly an alarm sounded and the video feed cut off. "Attention, all personal to battle stations." A voice boomed over a speaker.

"What? What are we going to do?" Rookie almost yelled as he shot onto his feet, fear evident in his eyes. Shadow felt sorry he had to face to fears but there was only one way to overcome them.

"Get off this thing. It will probably reroute our course to a secure area for security measures." Shadow said calmly, her eyes running across the glass walls around them as she spoke.

"Isn't that where we _want_ to go?" Rookie asked almost cowering next to Shadow.

"_No_," Shadow emphasized the word, "My duty is to reach Dr. Tyler's office and try to convince the higher ups to let me use a weapon again. Your duty is to learn to use a weapon and become a _real_ marine." When she finished speaking, she kicked the glass door and cracks spread across the whole door. "Damn Covenant." She spoke through clenched teeth. "They always," another kick to the door sent more cracks scattering, "ruin," Another kick, "everything!" The glass shattered and pieces rained upon the bottom of the trolley.

"I really don't think we can-"

"Jump!" Shadow yelled as she grabbed the Rookie around the waist and leapt out of the trolley. She had calculated it just right to land in the middle of a platform and with her cat reflexes it hardly felt like a landing at all. Unfortunately, Rookie didn't feel the same way. He was literally clinging to Shadow and trembling with fear. Kat heaved a sigh and pealed Rookie off her, holding him upright with both hands on his shoulders.

"Pull yourself together Rookie!" Shadow yelled, staring him right in the eye. "You're a man! Act like one and show some backbone! Now we are just going to walk down a few hallways and get to Dr. Tyler's office. We might not even come in contact with Covenant forces. All you have to do is follow close behind me and keep a cool head." Her sharp words seemed to have some affect on the traumatized Rookie and his legs finally held him up. "Now, will you promise to follow close behind me and not panic?" The Rookie swallowed hard and nodded meekly. "Good, now let's go."

Shadow moved across the platform with a few quick strides and picked up a battle rifle from a rack on the wall. Rookie scurried to her side and she shoved a pistol into his hand. "The first step to becoming a man: picking a weapon. Since you have no experience with any kind of weapon I'm giving you a pistol since it should be the easiest for you." Kat went through explaining how to use it and then grabbed some extra ammo. "_Now_ let's go." Shadow said firmly and headed down a hallway with Rookie right at her heals.

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Yay, another chapter down! Hopefully I can keep this story rolling and get as many reviews as I did on my first story!


	3. Chapter 3 Trapped

They were trapped. Kat hated to admit it but it was partly her fault. If she had just kept a better eye on Rookie, she could have been able to pull him behind some cover or told him to tuck in his foot. Then the issue of him getting hit would have been prevented. The wound wasn't serious but since it was on his ankle she literally had to carry him out of the storage room which a Covenant pod had latched onto. She found cover behind some overturned crates in a narrow hallway and helped him wrap the ankle to stop it from bleeding but when she got back to killing off the Covenant she found that another wave had joined the enemy forces and almost tripled their strength. The situation became even worse when a Covenant group came in behind them, trapping them in the hallway.

"Damn!" Kat yelled through clenched teeth as she pulled out the empty cartridge and threw it against a crate, her black tail twitching irritably next to her. "If only I had my armor! Then I could show them why they named me Shadow!"

"Sorry Shadow…" Rookie said in a weak voice. He leaned against a crate next to Kat not looking too well. He hadn't lost that much blood but he could just be weary from his first fight or recovering from shock. Either way, he was being useless right now but Kat knew she had to encourage him somehow.

"It's alright Rookie." Shadow reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You did surprisingly well for your first time and I'm sure next time you'll get even better." Shadow smiled to back up her words before removed her hand from his shoulder and pulled out her last cartridge from her pocket and frowning. "_Great_, this is just what I needed." She mumbled as she slammed the ammo into the battle riffle with a frown.

"You can use my pistol." Rookie offered as Shadow peeked over the crates.

"No," Kat replied as she started expertly taking down the Covenant that were closer to the crates while dogging and ducking to avoid their fire. "You might need that weapon to protect yourself if this plan doesn't work."

"Plan? What kind of plan?" Rookie asked in a concerned tone, probably still remembering the jump from the trolley.

"Can one of these crates open?" Shadow asked and saw that the Covenant had stopped firing and jackals were lining up in front of the grunts and elites with their shields up. "Hurry…" Kat warned, looking over her shoulder to see that the Covenant on the other side doing the same. "Their getting smart…"

"Found one!" Rookie whispered from the front of the open crate.

"Good! Now get in it and stay still!" Shadow whispered back, keeping her golden eyes on the Covenant on either side of them.

"What? I don't think I can-" Rookie started to protest but Shadow grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him into the crate, slamming it shut.

The Covenant had started to advance and it was very obvious now that some elite was commanding them. The jackals were impatient though and rushed towards Shadow's position, most of them careless with covering their vitals and allowed Kat to pick almost all of them off before they were on her. She jumped on top of the crate Rookie was in and kicked in a jackals head while shooting an elite in the forehead. Then she twirled, kicking away most of the Covenant surrounding the crate and emptied the last of her battle rifle into another elite that had begun to fire on her. Her tail whipped away a grunt behind her and she brought her empty gun down on a jackals head. She slashed an elites neck with her nails and whirled around to upper cut a maroon elite.

Shadow kept up this deadly dance for almost 5 minutes. Her golden eyes flashing to spot every immediate danger, her pupils now narrowed and elongated, just like a cats. Her hands dripped with blue blood and her face and clothes were also splattered with the multi-colored blood like a painters' smock. Some of her black hair hung in strands about her face although it never bothered Shadow in her artistic, deadly dance.

Then, without warning, a maroon plasma pistol was shoved next to her throat, pointing up into her chin. Shadow stopping moving all together her arms extended on either side of her, even her tail froze. Then the Covenant all around her had their weapons pointed towards her and everything became still.

"Shadow, you have become a bad stray cat." An elites' voice spoke in the Covenants' dialect.

Shadows cat eyes moved to the corner of her eyes to see a gold elite holding the plasma pistol to her chin. "If you remember, it was you that made me into a cat." Kat almost hissed in the Covenant's language.

"You were reborn to serve the Prophets! It was an honor that any warrior would have wanted." The elite said, and Kat just gave him a cold stare. "I don't understand you. You should be thanking the Prophets for holding you in such high esteem and making you into the perfect fighter. Why do you resent them?"

"Because it was done without my consent and if I remember correctly, _I am your freak'n enemy_!" Kat yelled in a snarl, her tail twitching with her words.

"Then your existence," the elite said pushing the gun even harder into her throat, "only threatens the Great Journey."

In that second Kat felt the whole universe stop moving. Her life would end right now and she had yet to do anything useful for the war. This isn't how she wanted to die. Of course it would be an honorable death, dieing to protect humanity, but she wanted to accomplish something, something that would bring honor to the Spartan name, even if she wasn't considered a Spartan anymore. All she wanted was to clear her mistakes. Was that too much to offer from fate? Was her bad luck really going to end of her life?

Then a bullet whizzed by her eyes and penetrated the elites head. His mouth dropped but his finger still squeezed the trigger even as death took hold of him. Fortunately, Shadow had jumped into the air and avoided his blasts. Her feet came down on two elites, caving in their skulls, and she flipped backwards, twirled and knocked another two elites on the ground dead. Her hands killed the other Covenant aliens around her, either with her nails or fists as bullets zipped through the air around her, penetrating the other aliens. It was a wild chaos as weapons fire sliced the air and blood splattered. Confusion and turmoil went mad and nothing was understandable. Not even the steady beating of Shadow's own heart seemed normal in the fast paced battle. Then…there was only chaos.

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Yay! Action! I need to make sure my chapters have more of this actiony goodness. Anyway, I've decide to try and get you, the readers, more vocal! I've decided to post a chapter every one or two reviews I get till the story is caught up to what I've written and that's about chapter 8. So, If you want more chapters - Review!

I would like to give a BIG thank you for The Lonely Fox, for submitting my first review on the sequel! yay! As a reward, I'll give a shout out to you in the next chapter ^.^ Also, I'd like to thank Blinkdawg for posting on my old story if he ever reads this far :P Anyway, I'll try and give little shout outs to reviewers in the chapters if I find your review exceptionally pleasing.


	4. Chapter 4 New Purpose

It was over. Piles of Covenant bodies covered the floor of the hallway. Multi-colored blood painted the walls and brought a little color into that gray hallway. Kat sat on the crate Rookie was still in, whipping off the blood on her hands with a strip of cloth.

"Thanks for the save, sir." Kat said, now whipping off her face with the little clean cloth she had left.

"Your welcome," Came the deep voiced response. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get in that situation?"

Kat finished cleaning herself off, except her clothes, and tossed the now blue rag on top of the gold elites head. Her cat eyes darted up to the man in front of her and a smile came to her lips. Master Chief always had that impenetrable presence, the straight back and stiff shoulders, but it always made Kat feel strangely fluttery inside, especially when he was in full armor. "Rookie got hit so I was pinned down protecting him. Before I knew it, I was surrounded and the Covenant just started swarming."

"And where's Rookie now?" Chief asked and Kat tapped lightly the crate she was sitting on and the door slammed opened on the side. Rookie flopped out of the crate, moaning and groaning as he writhed on the ground like a sick snake; bring a smirk to Shadow's face. "I see." The Chief murmured, his face plate tilting towards the Rookie before returning to Kat. "Where are you going? I thought you would've been sent to a secure area since you can't fight."

"I'm going to Dr. Tyler's office." Kat responded as she stood and picked up a plasma pistol. "She has my armor and if I can convince the higher ups to let me fight again, I'm going to need it."

"You need an escort then?"

"It's just around the corner." Kat said with a smile. "Besides you're supposed to protect this station, not me."

"I'll see you on the battle field then." Chief said as he began to walk down the hallway in a commanding, yet cautious gate.

"See you later!" Kat called after Chief, watching him till he disappeared behind a door. For some reason, the image of John, quietly smiling down at her and holding her hand popped into her head. Suddenly, Kat found her face had grown hot. What was wrong with her? Was she blushing? No, she couldn't be. Spartan's don't blush. Yet, was there a use in denying it? Shadow gritted her teeth and her expression became harsh. She was a soldier in a war and should only be thinking of such.

"How's your ankle?" Shadow asked Rookie in a bland tone without turning to face him for fear her face may still be red.

"Ugg…" Rookie groaned one last time. "It feels like shit."

"Good." Shadow said in a plain tone and turned towards him. "Then let's go." Kat lifted up Rookie and tossed him over her shoulder.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?" Rookie protested at being disgracefully carried around like a sack of potatoes.

"Oh, quit your yapping. We'll be there before you know it." Shadow reassured him as she stamped around the corner and headed straight for the door at the end of the hallway. She kicked the door twice and yelled, "Dr. Tyler! Hey! Dr. Tyler, you in there?"

No response. Shadow tapped in her security code and the door beeped rudely before letting her in. The room was dark, but the illumination of a computer screen lit the face of a woman in her 30's, her green eyes were locked on the screen in front of her and her brown hair had been tied back quickly so strands of it still hung in her face.

"Yes, I understand sir," Dr. Tyler was speaking to the screen, "but the modification we made to her suit and the precautions-"

"Ok, fine, I believe you Dr. Tyler." A man's voice replied slightly irritably, obviously Commander Hood's. "I'll allow Shadow to fight again. Has she made it to your office yet?"

"Yes, sir." Dr. Tyler answered, her eyes flicking up from the screen to Kat.

"Then get her to stand next to you so I can give her the mission."

"Yes, sir." Dr. Tyler nodded, gesturing for Kat to come over.

Shadow quickly strode into the room, placing Rookie in a padded chair that was off to the side and headed to the desk where Dr. Tyler sat. She then stood behind the doctor's shoulder to gaze at Commander Hood's face on the screen. "Sir?" Kat said in her military tone, giving a sharp salute that Hood returned.

"Shadow, I want you to pilot a small craft to Earth's surface where the Covenant have landed. There, you will search for a prophet named Regret and find out why he has landed there and assassinate if possible. This mission requires stealth and speed so you will be alone. This is of utmost importance for you to get this information, you must not fail." Commander Hood spoke with such sincerity that Kat felt a tingle at the back of her neck knowing that she was going to fight again.

"Yes sir!" Shadow replied saluting again as the image snapped off.

"This won't be easy Kat." Dr. Tyler said, using her real name to back up her worry. "You are still not immune to Control Liquid and there's no telling if the Covenant will use it again…" Dr. Tyler spoke as she anxiously watched Shadow stride behind a screened panel next to her suit and begin to undress. "You'll be in a Covenant ship and no doubt they'll try to capture you and force you to do their bidding again…" Kat slipped on the under layer of her suit and began to assemble the armor as Dr. Tyler spoke, giving the doctor's worried words half her attention. "They know you would be a great asset to their side and no doubt they'll-Kat, are you listening to me?"

"Yes Doctor." Shadow replied nonchalantly as she placed armor over her forearm.

Dr. Tyler sighed and walked over to the ex-Spartan. "You need to be careful though." She said softly, "You're…changing…" Kat stopped what she was doing and looked at Dr. Tyler with her golden eyes, which glowed in the dim light. "First your hair became black and then your eyes turned golden…"

"And now my behavior has altered." Shadow finished for her, a frown on her face. "Don't worry Dr. Tyler, I won't allow myself to transform into a cat…and I'll try to avoid napping on window ledges even if the sun is perrrrfectly warm." Shadow said with a smirk.

"Kat!" Dr. Tyler scolded, hitting Shadow in the arm. "This is a serious manner!" The doctor yelled, although Kat could still see that was trying not to smile.

"I know, I know…" Kat murmured as she rolled her eyes. "Now can you help me put on the rest of my armor?" She asked and Dr. Tyler nodded as she helped Shadow finish assembling her armor.

Kat gazed at herself in the mirror with her helmet in her hands, admiring the new modification that Dr. Tyler had made. Her armor was still black and form fitting but thick plating had been added to vital areas, making it appear more like Chief's armor. The plating had been dulled though, so that when Kat was trying to blending in with the shadows her armor wouldn't reflect any light or shine in any way. Her helmet had also changed, a silver visor had replaced the eye slits but it was able to turn black when Kat wished to be in the shadows. The cat ears on top of the helmet had not changed at all though but Kat wondered if more changes would be noticeable once she put on the helmet.

"Ow!" Kat yelped when she felt a sting on her arm and saw Dr. Tyler with a needle.

"Don't forget your shots," Dr. Tyler said, handing her a small box that Kat latched onto her belt, mumbling something about warnings. "You need to take them whenever you have a chance. They are to help you in case you encounter the Covenant's control liquid again."

"Thanks Doc, So where is my ride?" Shadow asked as she grabbed a battle riffle from a rack on the wall and inspected it.

"It's in docking bay 4." Dr. Tyler replied after she tapped a few keys at her desk. "Its armor has been modified to withstand reentering Earth's atmosphere so you don't have to worry about that."

Kat grabbed a sniper as the doctor spoke, getting extra ammo for both guns and storing it away. She then strode over to Rookie who was trying his best to hide his pain. "Rookie, I have one last order for you." Shadow said with a smile and was glad she had not put on her helmet yet. "I want you to protect Dr. Tyler with your life."

"Yes ma'am!" Rookie answered with a salute that Shadow returned.

"You're going to turn into a great soldier one day." Kat said as if it were an after thought. It was a little distressing for her to leave Rookie and Dr. Tyler unprotected but she had a mission to fulfill and she wasn't going to fail. It was her time to make up for her losses and change her luck. She was going to be a _lonely fox_ hunting prey.

Shadow turned towards the door with her face set in determination. She didn't know what new fate awaited her but with her new purpose; she wouldn't let anything stop her. Kat lifted her helmet above her head and slid it on, hearing a _click_ and moving it from side to side to test the lock. The battle riffle felt good in her hands and she raised it to make sure the aiming was correct in her HUD. She was ready. Her feet moved forward and the door slid open. This was going to be one heck of a mission.

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Yay reviews! thank you Lonely Fox and () for reviewing and keep it up for the next chapter to be released!


	5. Chapter 5 The Journey

Please excuse my ignorance in this chapter. I really have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to space ships and flying due to my lack of interest in the topic. So I would really appreciate it if everyone could withhold the flame reviews for this chapter. Thank you for your cooperation and have a good day. Beep.

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Gun fire echoed through the hallway and the rank stench of singed flesh filled the air. Covenant bodies lay strewn across the floor and on top of crates. Multi-colored blood splattered the walls and floors and dripped from the carcasses. The fatal wounds were caused by a battle riffle burst judging from the numerous holes in certain areas. In fact one of the guns echoing down the hallway sounded like a battle riffle mixed with Covenant weapons.

A grunt collapsed at Shadows' feet as she tapped the trigger of her battle riffle one last time and stepped over him. Her battle riffle swept over the hallway once before settling down in a ready position, her golden eyes still glancing at every shadow as she proceeded. Her boots made no sound as she strolled, almost casually, to the door in front of her and tapped in her code to make it open. Her gun was ready at her shoulder when the door started to slide open again and her form had turned back to a more military like discipline.

The battle riffle swept over the whole hanger as Shadow proceeded cautiously inward. When she was about halfway into the hanger her gun lowered and her gait turned more relaxed and informal again as she walked up to the space craft in the middle of the hanger, her tail swinging from side to side.

The spacecraft was like a pelican but it was black and had a sleek appearance to it with its smooth curves and small size. Her keen eyes noted the extra plating on the sides and round circles on the hull. Shadow assumed that the circles must act like pores and release a layer of protective gel. It was new technology and Shadow didn't think they would give her a craft so new. Maybe they wanted her to test it. That would be fantastic. Flying an untested craft through the Earth's atmosphere.

Shadow climbed into the ship and strapped on the harness. Her fingers flew across the buttons. She had not been trained in piloting the newer space ships since Reach but there were a lot of similarities in the control of this ship and the others. In fact Shadow only had to learn the control of a few things before she was ready to go.

She started the engines and ran through the preflight check before opening a COM channel to the bridge. "This is Shadow, requesting permission to leave."

"Granted," Cortana surprisingly replied, "The coordinates are already sent. Good luck, you'll need it with your run of luck lately."

"Thanks I guess, but I'm expecting to give that bad luck to the Covenant…personally." Shadow said the last word with a little more emphasis and clicked off the channel.

The hanger bay doors then started to slowly open. Kats' hands flexed on the controls in anticipation as her small craft started to shake slightly. The space outside was full of Covenant and UNSC ships. Explosions littered the black abyss of space as smaller space craft like hers fought each other. The Earth took up most of the background in the battle. The awesome splendor of its blue oceans covered with clouds sent a quick chill down her spin to know that Covenant freaks were already trotting all over its soil.

The doors finally opened enough for Shadow to ease her ship out and she pushed the engines to maximum. She burst out of the station and into the chaos of the space battle. Immediately she had to dodge another UNSC space craft and spin to avoid a burst of plasma from a Covenant ship. Her heart rate had picked up as the adrenaline started running through her veins. Her golden eyes seemed quicker to pick out the immediate threats and dodge. She was even able to view things out of her immediate zone to see what was happening in the overall battle.

It was during that time when she spotted something interesting to her right and zoomed in the screen to see what it was. What she thought was a man ridding a prickly object was really Master Chief. Kat looked to where he was heading with the weird thing and saw a Covenant ship just firing its cannons in the direction of Chief. Shadow sucked in a breath of air but saw he had dodged it and sighed. What was he doing? And what exactly was that thing he was taking to the Covenant ship?

A beep from the radar brought her thoughts back to her situation. In a split second she had identified the reason of the beep to a Covenant cannon blast heading straight for her. Right away Shadow made the adjustments, pushing the engines to maximum and ramming the throttle hard. Her heart was beating even faster now and her breath caught in her throat. She would make it. She had to. The Covenant still had to pay.

Then her space craft was vibrating and shuddering violently. Her screen filled with white light and her visor tinted to dull the brightness. There were beeps and red lights flashing all over the cock pit as the temperature seemed to jump a couple of degrees. Shadows eyes were darting everywhere and her hands were flying across buttons to make modifications. The blast had grazed one of her wings, throwing the steering off.

Shadow's heart seemed to have jumped to her throat and restrict her breathing. Would she even be able to make reentry? With the wing in that condition she could be torn apart in the atmosphere. There had to be another way. She wasn't going to just give up. Wait, there was still the protective gel. If that could withstand reentry, maybe she wouldn't have to worry about burning up in the atmosphere.

Her fingers were flying across the buttons again at amazing speeds as she made even more corrections, taking gel from other parts of the ship and moving it toward the wing. Her eyes darted to the right again to spot a Covenant ship exploding in white light and her screen zoomed in to spot Master Chief shooting out from it. Shadow gave it no further thought for her craft had already started shuddering as she began entering Earth's atmosphere. Her pointer finger now hovered over a yellow button. The timing had to be just right for the gel to last the whole time. She was not one to waste and her mission was on the line now.

Suddenly her finger pressed the button and the pores around the craft opened to release the protective gel. Her head leaned back and she relaxed her hands on the arm rests as the ships temperatures reached 100 and continued to grow. The craft shook fiercely and her red light continued to flash in warning. The gel was holding but there was no telling how long.

Kat closed her eyes briefly, relaxing her muscles as the heat in the ship brought sweat to her brow. She tried to steady her breathing but the adrenalin and the constant shuddering of the ship made that impossible for her. Eventually the shuddering of the ship died down and Shadow opened her eyes to see that she had made it through.

Right when she had breathed a sigh of relief a new beeping sound brought her attention to the controls again. Her course was off. The damage to the wing was throwing her off course. Immediately Shadow switched to manual, boosted the thrusters and steered the pelican as close to her course as possible.

The ship was shuddering just as violently as it did in reentering and the constant warning beeping was starting to really annoy Kat. The temperature had hardly decreased as well and Shadow soon found herself hoping she'd land in water. Oh, how she wished she could just be a passenger instead of a pilot. She wasn't cut out to being a pilot.

Shadow was drawing closer now. She could see the tan city now and the lone Covenant ship looming over it like a giant. Then her gaze spotted a UNSC ship just coming up to the city as well and absently wondered if that was the ship Chief had made it to when he burst out of the Covenant ship he destroyed.

The radar started beeping wildly and a quick glance told Kat that three red dots were on her tail. She switched to the rear camera and saw three banshees catching up to her pelican. Shadow tried to boost the engines more but they were already overheating. Once the banshees were in range, they spayed her ship with plasma and Shadow tried swerving to avoid some of their blasts but her ship had already taken heavy damage.

Shadow's smoking pelican was flying through the city buildings now and making a quick decision, Kat steered the pelican to the city's main water way. The bothersome banshees followed and continued to inflict damage upon Shadow's now flaming pelican and even Kat was wondering how she was still in the air. A bridge came into view and Shadow dove underneath it, loosing a banshee as it crashed into the cement overpass. The pelican skidded on the water before jumping into the air again and nose diving straight for the water. Shadow braced herself as the pelican splashed in the water and jerked her head forward, forcing Kat hard against the harness.

The immediate hesitation which any normal human would have had after a crash wasn't what Shadow was trained to do. She had already gotten out of her harness and grabbed a rocket launcher on a rack. The pelican was still floating on the water so the water level had not reached the cock pit windows which now cracked as Shadow hit the thick window with the rocket launcher. Two more hits and the window shattered, allowing Shadow to jump out of the pelican and onto the top of its hull.

Immediately, Shadow brought up the large weapon and leveled it on the banshee that had already started shooting at her. The lock clicked on and Shadow pulled the trigger. As the banshee exploded the other one was already circling around and diving towards the lone soldier. Shadow's shields flickered dangerously low as the banshee started to fire upon the ex-Spartan. Quickly Shadow locked on and fired, destroying the final banshee as well.

The pelican then shifted under Shadow's feet as the water started to engulf the wreckage. Kat slung the rocket launcher to her back and jumped into the water, swimming towards the shore. The distance was fairly short and within five minutes she was walking out of the water and onto a sandy beach.

Kat had her battle riffle raised and was proceed forward slowly. There appeared to be no Covenant on the beach. The Covenant must not have made it this far then but in about half an hour they'll be all over this place. That would only happen if Kat wouldn't interfere though and boy did she have plans when got her hands on some Covenant hide.

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I'd like to thank everyone who has submitted reviews! They really do keep me going. Reviews are like coffee! So more, more MORE!

Koneko thanks for the testing offer and I'll take you up on that when I hit writers block (which _will_ happen, don't worry) and I know my chapters are starting off short but they're short and sweet! When I was writing the story, I thought I would start off with shorter chapters since I'm not starting with action like I did in the first story. It's not the best way to make a good first impression but I gave new readers less to read at first to try and get them hooked. I'm working on the length now. Hence, the longer chapter 5 :P


	6. Chapter 6 Detour

Sorry for the late delay after the two reviews (and if you haven't noticed, I am waiting for 2 reviews now before submitting a chapter)

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Shadow moved soundlessly as she darted from roof top to roof top. Occasionally pausing to take a survey of the area or shooting a few Covenant in the head. Over all, shadow wouldn't spend much time on eliminating the small Covenant groups she spotted. She only picked off the highest ranking Covenant in the group to throw the rest into chaos and make them easy targets for the marines that would undoubtedly be following her.

As Shadow drew closer to the foreboding ship, she paused less and concentrated on reaching the Covenant ship more. In the end, it was when she was within a couple miles of the ship when an event caught her attention. Down a street to her left, were Covenant herding humans into a large, four way intersection. As Shadow hid on the roof of a nearby building, she saw that it wasn't just marines in the group but citizens as well. Kat felt her heartbeat quicken. She had seen the Covenant do this before. The Covenant were preparing a feast.

Shadows keen eyes spotted a jackel at the far side, inching toward a wounded citizen that was oblivious to the hungry Covenant approaching. Shadow looked up at the looming Covenant ship that was her mission, then back at the commotion. Her mission didn't allow her to take a detour but if she were asked later, she would say the Covenant had been in her way. The conflict was unavoidable. She was sure not everyone would be against her saving the marines and citizens.

The sniper rifle had been fired even before she had gotten to that conclusion and the jackel fell, causing everyone to stare at the corpse in a shocked silence - even the Covenant. Shadow took advantage of this and was able to pick off three elites, reload and take four more elites before the Covenant even made an effort to find her.

Shadow ducked as an elite started looking around and jumped to a different building. She killed four more Covenant and then jumped to another roof. Shadow kept it up until her ammo started running low. She had successfully scared and scattered all the grunts and most of the jackels and elites had taken cover in the buildings and behind rubble.

Shadow switched to her battle riffle and quickly jumped to the ground by way of ledges at the back of a building. She hid in the shadows and moved up to the street where the marines and citizens were looking around as if wondering if they could escape. Shadow was inching to the edge of a wall and was just about the peer around it when a very close elites voice said, "It stopped." Shadow froze and took a quick peek around the corner. Two elites were an inch from her face but thankfully they were looking out at the other roof tops. Shadow wrapped her arm around the closest elites head and snapped it, using a quick jab to the elites throat to kill him with her panther-like claws.

Shadow then crouched behind a car and peered around to see that more of the Covenant were showing their head and approaching the marines and citizens while searching the roofs for the killers sniper. A marine then suddenly picked up a plasma riffle and fired at a jackel, killing it instantly since its back was toward the marine.

Shadow then made her move, darting out of her cover and slamming the butt of her battle riffle into a jackels back. Not pausing to watch the jackle die, she jerked her gun up and pulled the trigger several times to kill some elites on the other side of the group of cowering citizens. By this time the marines had grabbed weapons and had started fighting back. Shadow kicked in a grunts breathing tube and stuck a plasma grenade on an elites face and pushed him into a group of his fellow kin.

A scream pivoted Shadows cat ears on top of her helmet and jerked her head to follow the desperate sound. The elite's explosion was forgotten behind Shadow as she ran towards a woman covering a baby from the sight of an elite pointing a plasma riffle at her. Shadow fired at the elite trying desperately to get its attention away from the innocent woman and child. It didn't work and the elite fired its' weapon.

Time slowed as Shadow slid in front of the woman. Her shields flickered yellow as the blasts hit but they were still intact. Shadow took a chance and lunged forward, ramming the butt of her riffle into the elites chin, killing him instantly. Then another elites jumped out and ran towards Shadow, she raised her battle riffle and fired two bursts at his forehead, stopping him in his tracks.

Shadow then noticed a jackel to her side but it was too late. The plasma blast smashed into the side of her helmet, throwing her head to one side. Her helmet was thick enough that the plasma didn't even reach her face and only knocked her head to one side. This encouraged Shadow and she lifted her riffle to shoot the jackel in the foot and then unnecessarily followed through with several shots as it fell to the ground.

Shadow looked around and noticed that all the Covenant were dead around the group and all the humans were staring at her. She quickly scanned the marines ID's and realized that all of the them were privates.

Shadow straightened her back and rested her weapon in her hands. "You can't stay here." She said in a loud voice. "I suggest you head out of this area and call for reinforcements as well as transport for citizens."

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Ended pretty sudden eh? Well that's because I need you all to vote and determine the next chapter. So I had an idea of making Kat's detour a little longer and having her to stay to protect the citizens till the pelicans arrived OR we can cut to the chase and get her on board the Covenant ship. So send me a review and tell me what you think the next chapter should be!


	7. Chapter 7 Road Closed Ahead

Got a little treat for you guys. This chapter is 1,324 words. So enjoy the longer read! ^.^

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Kat scanned the road for the 91st time. She was tense as she moved cautiously to another vantage point on the building. Nothing was happening and there was no sign of the Covenant. That was one reason why Kat was on edge. It was too quiet. Everything was still and silent – till a baby started crying.

Yes, Kat had been suckered into helping the large group of citizens escape the Covenant. It was really her Achilles heel. She always had to stop and save the trapped citizen or the wounded marine. That was how she got the title the "Spartan of the People" and she doubted she could live it down intentionally. The Covenant control liquid changes that, but no one seems to take that into consideration. Her old squad mates would have vouched for her. Numerous times she got them to risk their lives and mission on saving one person. They wouldn't have helped if they didn't feel the same though and deep down, she knew Matt and Alex were good Samaritans.

Had been. They were past tense now. They were MIA. Like all the other Spartans who had been on Reach.

The baby was still whaling and probably alerting every Covenant on Earth. Kat jumped down the building and approached a marine.

"Private, please give me good news." She said, her eyes scanning the street she expected the Covenant to be stampeding down any moment.

"The boats are almost here, ma'am." He said nervously, gazing behind him at the river.

Kat glanced back as well to see two large boats moving towards them from the opposite shore. A few yards to the left and a tail of a pelican stuck out from the water. Kat frowned, that had been her pelican. She had marched the group back to the river she had crashed in not an hour earlier. It was like being back where she started and Kat had lost a lot of time with this detour. It was like there was a sign in front of her saying "Road closed ahead for Covenant. Please use detour."

Her tail started twitching irritably and the baby suddenly stopped blaring out cries. Kat looked back and saw the baby intently watching her tail. He then let out a giggle and waved his hands in excitement.

"You have got to be kidding me." Kat mumbled and looked around at everyone sighing in relief since the baby stopped crying. She expected some of them were even snickering at how her tail had calmed the baby down. A flash of color brought her attention to the street again.

"Everyone get in cover." Kat said calmly, followed by an urgent shuffling. Kat climbed up a building to a perch and shouldered her sniper rifle. Almost immediately, 4 shots rang out and Shadow downed 4 elites. She had found little in the way of sniper ammunition so she used up what she had fast and switched to a battle riffle.

A loud roar ripped through the battle noise and Shadow tensed. That was the sound of a brute. Kat had fought them before on rare occasions but they did not seem as widely used as elites. From what Kat could remember from her time under Covenant control, the brutes just weren't trusted enough like the elites and that caused a lot of tension between the two races.

A vehicle flew out of a side street and Shadow quickly positioned herself on a 2nd floor to see that street. It was a squad of 4 brutes and one wielded a large hammer. Just Shadow's lucky day.

Her battle riffle fire focused blasts on one of the side brutes and killed him before they entered the main street. It also got all their attention on her and not the marines or citizens. Shadow began focusing on another brute, planning to take two down before having to focus the hammer brute, but the baby started crying again. Shadow figured it was crying about the loud weapon fire but she still instinctively looked back to see that wasn't it. An elite had made it past the marine line and started firing on the citizens cowering behind what little cover they had. Shadow turned her scope to the elites and showered him with bullets till he fell. The marines tightened up their line and Shadow had saved the innocent – again. However, there was no one to save her. She had given up precious time to eliminate the brute threat and they hadn't really enjoyed her killing one of their brothers.

Hammer brute had sprinted toward her and scaled the building so fast that when Shadow could react, all she could do was jump with the swing of the hammer. There was a loud WHOM and an energy field pushed Shadow away like gravity. She crashed into a store on the opposite side of the street.

It was hard to breathe. Everything was a little fuzzy and her vision couldn't focus. Something like a large plank was digging into her back. Shadow groaned and pushed herself off the rubble. She staggered and almost fell again but her head cleared quickly enough. Just in time, she was able to dodge a brute's fire and get cover. The hammer brute was already bounding across the street towards her. Shadow shot at his head and was only able to knock his helmet off till he was in range to swing again. This time he tried an overhead smash. Shadow dove under his arm, rolled, and started firing at the back of his head. The brute roared in anger and swung the hammer across the ground. Shadow leaped over it and kicked the brute in the face. This didn't make him very happy and he ended up dropping the hammer and tackling Shadow into a wall. Well it was actually through it.

The brute had both her arms pinned and Shadow couldn't wiggle out. Suddenly, the brute head-butted her. Her HUD flashed and the screen distorted but thankfully flickered back to normal. Shadow reverted to the one thing she could use against males in these situations. She kneed him in the groin. It worked wonders because the brute got off her, whaling like the baby who had alerted them to their position. Kat then simply flipped over him and snapped his neck.

She didn't dwell on how hard it was to put him down because the other two other brutes were yelling for attention, literally. One was already firing at her while the other was charging the marine line. On a good note, the citizens were boarding the boats.

Shadow sprinted forward, ignoring the little falters in her HUD, and grabbed the hammer. The brute attacking her knew exactly what hit him when he crumbled to the ground dead.

A strangled cry brought Shadow's attention to the last brute who was charging the group of citizens clamoring onto the boats. Shadow dropped the hammer and ran at fully speed (which is pretty darn fast since she was a spartan). She vaulted over several cars till she jumped onto the brute's back and stopped him with a choke hold. The brute swung her off and she landed hard on the ground in front of him. He tried to stomp on her but she rolled away while kicking his foot from under him. Brutes don't fall pleasantly and Shadow had plenty of time to get up, grab a gun, and shoot him in the head at point blank range.

Kat let out a breath. Her eyes swept over the fight and the staring citizens. The marine's were holding the defensive line fine now and the citizens were almost home free (if they would stop staring and finish boarding). Now it was time to disappear.

Kat ran into the battle, killing Covenant along the way, then vanished – in the middle of the street.

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This is my own Kat, Bler. I created her before Reach even came out. If it had, I would've named her something else.

Sorry for the delay on the chapter update but life is busy you know. I also hope I delivered some good action in this chapter and I do want to give more detours per chapter but that would make very long chapters and I don't want to make the chapters too uneven.

Alright, I want substantial reviews this chapter so I want you all to ask me a burning question you might have about Kat or the story so far.


	8. Chapter 8 Previous Engagements

"Don't you just love stake outs?" Alex murmured from across the dark room. His voice almost made Kat jump. She had been so focused on the street outside she had all but forgotten her squad was in the same room. She had been staring at the road in front of the building they were four floors up in. There was a skyscraper on the other side of the road with widows reflecting the sun. Kat was glad her helmet dimmed the light or she would be completely blind by how intense she had been staring outside. Kat leaned back on her heels to realize she had been straining her neck for over an hour.

"I need to stretch a bit. You boys got it?" Kat's silky voice said in the same quiet tone Alex had spoken in.

"We always got your back." Mat replied from a shadow near Alex's window. "You just sit back and relax. We can finish this whole mission if you want to take a nap even."

"Oh please," Kat murmured while stepping away from the window, "I can't let you guys have all the fun." Spartan 108 turned her head from side to side to loosen her tight muscles. She still kept a keen eye on her squad for any reaction they had spotted something. Spartans had trained together so long that they knew each other just by their stance and mannerisms. A lot of the times, they communicated to each other with the simplest body movements.

Alex crouched down further on the side of his window, his helmet tilting to the side as he looked down the street. He always had relaxed shoulders, even when he was fighting, but when they were stiff, you knew something was wrong. His first murmur was not just to make casual banter either. Alex was the master at reading others moods and saying or doing just the right thing to make it better. He knew Kat had been straining her neck and concentrating too hard on one spot. However, he had a mischievous glint in his eyes at all times though. If not watched carefully, he will pull a practical joke faster than a rabbit could jump out of a hat.

Now Mat, he was best described as a statue at ease and a tiger in a fight. His stance was perfectly military at any time. He didn't talk too much outside their squad but he had a heart of gold. In a fight, he was terrifyingly vicious. When that fighting side comes out, it reminds Kat of a momma animal protecting it's young. She would never tell him that though. He would probably never forgive her for that because she was the embodiment of a momma animal protecting it's young every time she tried to save someone. Mat was really just protective over his fellow Spartans since he was one of the oldest and took the responsibility of an older brother.

Kat put her back near the side of the widow and looked outside. She couldn't imagine not having Mat and Alex in a fight.

Kat couldn't imagine Mat and Alex were gone. The memory of them still haunted her, especially in this dark room. It was a pitch-black apartment room with windows overlooking a shopping plaza with a fountain in the middle. The shopping plaza was busy, but not with humans. Covenant swarmed all over the area and instead of shopping bags, they were carrying weapons and supply crates. They were undisturbed though and many of the grunts snoozed in sunny areas out of elite watch. It wasn't easy finding a sunny spot though, not with a huge Covenant ship looming above them.

Kat had made it so close to the vessel only to seek cover when moving without being seen became more difficult and her helmet started acting up. She had found an apartment building the Covenant were only using the roof for surveillance and snuck into a room overlooking the the plaza. It was good she was able to observe the area before having to move through it too. She was able to learn the area as well as watch the actions of the Covenant "guards," who were really only there to watch what the others missed. Many eyes make things seen, right? That might be Covenant philosophy but Kat was here to prove them wrong.

Kat pulled off her helmet and pushed back the brown hair that immediately fell in her face. She had cut it while on the Cairo station and was still getting used to the shorter length. Luckly, she was able to keep it in a helmet most of the time. Kat turned the helmet around to see the damage. The plasma burn on the side had taken away the first layer of armor but she only had to make sure she wasn't hit there on the weakened armor. The bad thing was the dent on the forehead. The brute that headbutted her had caused a thin, hairline crack along the the side of visor. The crack wouldn't be too much of a problem since the visor was double paned. Kat also figured a few wires were just loose since there were only a few disturbances in her HUD.

Kat pulled out a small kit of tools and started fiddling with her helmet. Every few seconds, her eyes would dart to the window and observe the area promptly before returning to work. It was a quick job, but she hooked up the helmet the best she could, just so the flickers would cease. Kat turned the helmet to look at the crack again. The reflection of her golden eyes caught her attention and she sighed softly. Her gaze shifted up at the dark, empty space in front of the windows where her team mates would've been kneeling to watch the street for her. A lot had changed. A lot had ended.

"_Target spotted!"_ The sound of Mat's deep voice echoed from her memory. Kat grinned as she saw the hulking hunters lumbering down a side street. They were her ticket in the ship. Her helmet clicked into place and Kat quickly ran a scan to make sure everything was functional. Once pleased, the ex-spartan stood, corrected her sights, and turned on her invisibility. Minutes later, Kat was practically the hunters shadow, the invisibility allowing her to blend with the constantly moving spikes on their back and thus make any observes think the wavering view of their back was just the spikes.

The hunters strolled right up to the gravity lift and stepped into it. Kat felt the pull on her stomach and they began the slow accent to the ship above. Once they crested the top of the buildings, Kat quickly surveyed the city. The Covenant had destroyed a lot of the buildings and their control had spread wide. An explosion caught Kat's attention and she zoomed in on the flaming scarab. A figure emerged from the smoke and with a gust from a nearby pelican, the smoke cleared and Master Chief stepped out. Kat's view turned black as the ship swallowed her but she thought she saw Chief look up at her. At least he saw her on the battlefield – before being sucked into enemy territory.

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Took me long enough to get out of writers block! And yes, I know it is a very short chapter but I wanted to get a little back history on Kat in because I feel I didn't stress how important her team members were in the first story.

I want to thank Bler for knocking me in the head about being more descriptive. I loved doing descriptions but I guess I was trying to rush along the storyline when I should have slowed down.

About Master Chief and Kat, I would say that I am trying to make this story within the boundaries of the Halo story and I'm not going to change what happened in the games. Needless to say, Kat is my character and I can let her have a crush on her Superior if I want to.


	9. Chapter 9 Shipment Issues

Darkness flooded over Kat as the Covenant ship swallowed her. Immediately her HUD switched to night vision and she silently moved behind some boxes before violet lights glowed around the loading bay. In the center of the room was the circular loading bay and purple boxes scattered the remainder of the room, leaving passageways to the doors on two walls of the room. The ship hummed to life under her boots and she knew they were headed somewhere fast. It took only a minute till a churning in her stomach told her the ship had jumped through space. The hunters sauntered over to a large set of doors, one nudged a grunt out of the way but for the grunt, it was more of a slam because he flew into the side of a nearby box and toppled it over. An elite started barking at the grunt for being so lazy and worthless. For Kat, it was a good sign that she had been completely overlooked.

Shadow knew it was just going to get harder though. To continually escape being noticed in an enemy ship while heading towards the most heavily guarded section was going to be impossible. That's what she was here for – to do the impossible.

Kat molded with the shadows and disappeared from all Covenant eyes. She hadn't been named Shadow by the Covenant for no reason. They had been impressed with how well she could move unseen. It also helped they had installed an invisibility function in her armor. Of course the invisibility had its limits such as the distortion it made in a well lit room. That is why Kat stayed in the deepest shadows even now.

"Get moving Grunt!" The elite barked and kicked the grunt towards a door. The grunt squealed and scurried through the door before the elite could kick him _into_ the door. The elite followed closely, and so did Shadow. Following them was perfect cover to get through doors that would seem odd opening on their own. It was also good that they were distracted.

Kat tailed them through half the ship till the elite shoved the grunt into a room and closed the door. The elite suddenly backed up. He was able to grunt once before she snapped his neck and grabbed his limp body before it crashed on the ground.

_Oh great, now how am I supposed to keep a dead elite secret?_ Kat thought bitterly as she surveyed the adjacent hallways. A loud ruckus in a side hallway caught her attention and she grinned as she recognized the door it led to. Kat dragged the elite body to the door and peered in to see cells lining the whole room with no guard. She brought in the body and the Covenant in the jail cells went crazy, clawing at the bars. Kat quickly threw the elite corpse in their reach and left before she could see them begin their feast.

Kat sighed when she got outside and tried to decide which way to go. She was lost in this new ship. The other ships she had been on were constructed differently. Then she saw a flash of orange down a hallway. Silently, she went to follow the orange she had seen. At the end of the hallway, Shadow inched around the corner and saw two orange-armored elites walking away from her. The only time she had seen those types of elites had been when there were prophets about.

Hastily, Kat pursued them and stayed in their shadows. It wasn't long till they mounted a few stairs and approached a set of double sliding doors. The doors blinked and opened with a hiss, immediately the prophet's voice bellowed out through them, "They will come to our aid!" Kat realized again how much she should be grateful to not have to work under a prophet and hear their voice all the time. "This is another chance to finally realize the Great Journey." Kat's mouth twitched in a snarl at the two words. "So we will find the index and the appropriate base and wait for my brethren to arrive."

The room had a vaulted ceiling with pillars leading up to the Prophet on a raised circular platform. Luckily, there were also a few scattered crates for Kat to slip behind and hide out of view so she could creep closer to the Prophet.

She was exactly ten feet away when the alarm went off. The high-pitched constant wail came from the prophet's floating throne. Red Covenant letters spelling "lock-down" flashed in her HUD. Kat's heart pounded as she tried to back up and found that the armor on her legs had frozen in place. She tried to lift her arm and found that her armor creaked in response before freezing completely. Her head moved and then stopped as well.

Her breath came faster and fogged her helmet. She willed herself to control her breathing and heart rate and saw the red letters flash "lock-down complete." Her HUD cleared and she could see the prophet of Regret floating in front of her and glowering.

"So the stray returns." The prophet's voice reverberated through her armor, "Are you here to beg for your milk?" His long, bony fingers ran over the draping skin on his chin. "Maybe you will learn again who your masters are."

Pain stabbed her neck and she could only guess an elite was giving her a shot of Control liquid because she couldn't turn her head to see. The light-headiness and blurry vision confirmed it a few minutes later. The worst thing was, they kept giving her shots every thirty minutes. An empty void flashed in her vision before returning to normal and then the murmuring started.

"Kat. Come in, Kat!" Another voice pounded in Kat's head, adding to her throbbing headache. She clenched her teeth and tried to wake herself from her exhausted nodding. Something in the new voice reminded her of someone.

"Kat, you better reply right-this-minute!" The voice threatened and a weak grin curled her lips up.

"Yes Dr. Tyler, ma'am." Kat managed to croak out.

"Kat! Are you alright? What happened? I got a distressed alert that your armor had locked down and then your vitals went all haywire when the Control Liquid alarm went off."

"That sounds about right." Kat said in a stronger voice as she watched the Prophet of Regret give a pep speech into a recording device. Sweat ran down her back as her ears buzzed with the other voice and a weightlessness threatened to take her over.

"The shot I gave you should keep the Control Liquid at bay but you will probably run a fever. Just stay focused and-" The radio buzzed, "Signal...can't talk...believe in you..." The secure channel snapped off and Kat was alone with the murmuring in her head. At least Dr. Tyler believed in her. Now if only she could beat this internal enemy. Her eyes drooped as the fever drew on her energy. Her armor wouldn't respond to even temperature control so her body rose in degrees and sweat ran freely. Finally, a fitful sleep claimed her.

* * *

Sorry for the delay, hopefully I can make up lost time this next week or two. I have a general guideline for the next chapters which should make it faster. Keep up the reviews though! They really do encourage me to keep writing!


	10. Chapter 10 Regret This too

Kat woke up to the sound of the prophet's droning, shrill voice. She was still hot but only the stickiness remained from the sweat. Only a whisper from the background voice remained too and there was no weightless feeling from the Void. The bad thing: she was weak. Her energy was zapped from the fever. The good thing: she wasn't being controlled by the Covenant.

Kat let all her muscles relax and leaned against her unmoving armor. She didn't have anything else to do now but save her energy and watch the babbling Prophet. At least the Covenant believed she was under their power just because they put the Control Liquid in her. That meant they were going to release her sometime to do their bidding and when they did - she would show them who the master was.

"My Prophet!" An elite said suddenly after hours of waiting, "We have found a good location for a base."

Then, there was chaos as Covenant rushed around to move the Prophet and supplies. Kat, well, she was relocated like she was a statue by one of the elite guards. She certainly felt like a sculpture since she was frozen in one position. She was put near the Prophet on the circular platform that soon lowered and then floated in a gravity lift down to the Halo ring.

Kat wished she could moved her head to look over the area but from what she saw, they were descending down to a temple in the middle of a lake. There was a bridge like structure that stretched from the far end of the lake to the temple but only a gondola could be used to move back and forth from the temple to shore. Unusual, double wined birds caught Kat's attention as a pair of them flew by the gravity beam.

A _thump_ told Kat they had landed on the temple. That, and she was then dragged into the building so her only view was the floor. They propped her up again and she quickly looked over the interior. There were raised walkways along the side of the room with a bridge connecting them in the center. The entry way was raised as well so whoever came in had to come down the ramps on the side. She could hear a waterfall behind her and saw a drainage grate that told her water was prominent in the temple. Kat had been put off to the side of the Prophet next to some crates.

Kat was only an after thought to the Covenant now. It was only when the Covenant became uneasy and started whispering, that a gaze was cast in her direction. An elite finally approached the Prophet of Regret and bent close to his ear.

"The demon?" The Prophet's voice hit a piercing note, "How is he getting so close?" The elite bowed his head in shame. "Are none of you buffoons capable of stopping him?" Again silence greeted his question. "No, I wouldn't expect _more_ from Sangheili..." The Prophet's head turned toward Kat, "But I would from you..." Regret's eyes scanned the half Human-Covenant hybrid armor as if she held some greater answer. "Let the demon come. We will see how well he fares with one of his own kind."

Then, the awful wait. They knew Master Chief was coming now and there was nothing the Covenant could do to stop him. Kat couldn't stop herself from tensing her muscles in suspense, so she resorted to meditating. The trick had her clear her mind or concentrate on one single thing. It passed time like a charm. Before she knew it, Kat focused back on the world a few hours later when a new sound reached her ears.

Weapons fire. It echoed through the room like pin drops in the silent room. The Prophet of Regret wheezed and his eyes darted in fear. "He will not make it..." He murmured to himself as if to reassure himself he wouldn't die. A grunt squealed loudly outside and the Prophet whirled his floating chair towards Kat. He lowered his fear-filled gaze at her and his voice dropped an octave, "Do you know what to do?"

A gasp slipped through Kat's lips as the voice in her head began to shout. _Kill the demon! Kill the demon! Kill the demon!_ The question had brought a subconscious command to her her conscious mind. She didn't know the Covenant had also used mind control on her as well. Unfortunately for them, Kat had been able to clear her mind by meditating and could clearly see the subconscious effects and stop them. She silenced the voice in her head and knew exactly what the Prophet wanted to hear.

"I serve the Prophets." She muttered in a deep emotionless tone.

The Prophet of Regret grinned and hit a button on his chair before turning to face the entrance. "Armor unlocked" flashed across Kat's HUD and then her armor snapped. She almost knelt with the weight of her armor back on her shoulders. The weakness was still haunting her but she could at least hold her armor. Kat straightened from the hunched position, tilted her head from side to side, and loosened up any other muscles felt cramped.

Then Chief walked in. The other Covenant immediately started showering him with bullets and he had to duck behind cover. The Prophet of Regret turned towards Shadow and yelled, "Get him!" Before a knife burrowed itself into his stick-like neck. A gurgle escaped his mouth as his head fell and his neck formed a right angle. The Covenant stopped in shock as their leader fell. Kat simply walked over and pulled out her knife.

"Good work." Master Chief's deep voice hummed in her helmet.

"Time to go..." Cortana trilled in, "The massive Covenant fleet isn't going to wait for us to leave."

Kat quickly looked around as her shields flickered with the enemy fire. "I got my own way out. See you on the other side." She leaned over, ripped a drainage grate off, and jumped down.

Immediately, Kat's feet were pulled out from under her by swift flowing water that pulled her along with it. She slid down stone drain pipes like she was on a water ride. The ride shook as if something had impacted the whole building and then everything went wrong. The pipe started crumbling around her and a large stone swung out of place on the side and pinned her. A yell ripped from her lips as the edge of the block dug into her left leg. Water was spraying all around her now as she pushed the stone block off just enough for her to slip by and out of the tunnel.

Light dosed Kat as she left the drain and started free falling. The building above her was a crumbling mess as she fell down towards to water. Her visor dimmed as she looked behind her where the Covenant beam of death was dangerously close. Luckily, well in a manner of speaking, a large piece of the building swung down and hit her away like she was a baseball. It was lucky because she was thrown away from the beam of death but it hit like a ten ton bat.

The air was knocked from Kat's lungs as she soared through the air and she barely even felt hitting the water. She started gasping for air when she started loosing consciousness. The edges of her vision blurred but she still had the impression that there was something else in the water. She barely noticed the blood swirling in the water around her leg or the deep voice that reverberated through the water, saying something about graves and being welcome in it. Then there was only blackness.

* * *

I'd like to thank Bler for being my new beta and catching all my mistakes on this chapter.

Yes I know know in the game we kill the Prophet of Regret as Master Chief but I hope you all can allow me the liberty of letting Kat kill him. The main point is the prophet dies and I figured if he died a little earlier it wouldn't be too bad. I hope it can be seen that I'm not altering the main storyline and that is not my intent at all because I try my best to stick to the storyline.


	11. Chapter 11 Only a Weapon

It was Master Chief's voice that woke her up, "Relax. I'd rather not piss this thing off."

Kat's eyes opened on a disgusting sight of a brownish green mound that looked like a giant plant. It had a mouth like a Venus fly trap and vines like an octopus' tentacles. It was using the tentacle arms to hold Master Chief, an elite in gray armor, and Kat. To gross Kat out even more, the tentacles never stopped moving or tightening around her.

She was frozen in sickness. Her stomach really wasn't handling this well. Yes, Kat knew she was a battle-hardened Spartan, trained to overcome fears, but this fear was new. It had been a Covenant with tentacles, called Engineers, that had captured her and started her whole Shadow fiasco. So needless to say, Kat had a bad experience with these things. As if sensing her disgust, the tentacle coiled around her whole body tighter. The end of the tentacle wrapped around her neck and stroked her head like it was petting a cat. Her stomach heaved. It took her whole will not to hurl.

Kat struggled to loosen the monster's hold but it was no use. Her muscles were still weak. She looked over at Master Chief and saw he was struggling as well. He noticed her looking at him and gave a reassuring nod. Kat immediately relaxed. She didn't know why a simple nod was so comforting but maybe because Chief was the one who had her back. You couldn't get a better back up.

Then she noticed that the monster wasn't addressing her at all. In the huge cavern, she was hanging from the tentacles near one of the walls and off to the side of the creature as he held Master Chief and the elite in front of his gaping mouth. The giant monster was trying to prove to the elite that the Great Journey was universal death.

The monstrosity pulled out a flood infected Regret and an oracle. At least, that was how Shadow knew of them through the Prophets but he introduced himself as 2401 Penitent Tangent, a Monitor of Installation 05. Regret and the monitor, quarreled a bit before the giant mutant flood interrupted.

"This one's containment..." The monster huffed and shuddered, "and this one's 'Great Journey'..." the tentacles holding Regret and the monitor lowered, "Are the same. Your Prophets have promised you freedom from a doomed existence, but you will find no salvation on this ring. Those who built this place knew what they wrought. Do not mistake their intent, or all will perish as they did before..."

Kat briefly wondered what the benefit was for this flood-like creature. Why did _he_ want to stop the Great Journey? Self-preservation seemed to drive everyone except the Covenant. Yet, it wasn't a bad thing to be driven by a selfless thing. A lot of the times, Kat found herself fighting to protect others rather than herself. For this monster however, the core of his motives seemed like self-preservation and selfishness.

"You will search one likely spot," The monster muttered at Master Chief then the elite, "And you another. Fate had us meet as foes but this ring will make us brothers." Then in a flash of yellow light, the two were gone - leaving Kat with the gross monster.

Kat cleared her throat, "Excuse me?" The monster's sickening head turned towards her and he moved her in front of his giant mouth, the tentacles curled even more around her. Kat swallowed and made a mental note to thank the one who had installed a air filtration system in her suit. "Uh, yes, hi there. I don't know if you know this, but I kinda need to 'stop the key from turning' as well. So, uh...do you have another spot I can look or-"

"This one is both assembled and harnessed," His voice drowned out hers as he wrapped the end of the tentacle around her head, "but even more secluded."

"Yeah, and why do you care about my personal life?" Kat asked, pulling the tentacle off her face.

"I know isolation well, and you are not completely alone." The mouth spewed out clouds of brown fumes and again Kat muttered thanks to air filters. "You will search for your brethren, and unite those who quarrel."

Kat opened her mouth to ask who her brethren were but the world suddenly spun and a yellow glow engulfed her.

* * *

Short chapter but I only had the Gravemind cut scene to work with and I didn't want to use too much of the dialogue because we all know what was said. Anyway, the 'assembled and harnessed' line is meant to refer to Kat being built by humans and controlled by Covenant and thus a part of both races though neither claim her and so she is secluded and merely being used as a weapon. I hope this wasn't too confusing. It was hard trying to stick to Gravemind's rhyming/riddles as well as trying to get my own idea across. If anyone has a better way I could have said that, send me a review and I might change it if I like it!


	12. Chapter 12 Not So Friendly Faces

Queasiness churned in Kat's stomach as the yellow light burned around her. The illumination filtered and the next instant, Kat was standing in the middle of a steep valley with a river in front of her. A weakness swept over her and her foot slid on gravel. A soft groan slipped through her lips as she lay on hard rocks and took deep breaths to calm her quick pulse.

Kat's skin crawled as if the giant monster still held her in his tentacle grip. She couldn't help the fearful shudder that went down her spine at the thought of tentacle's still surrounding her. The memory seemed unbearably real with her eyes closed so she snapped her eyes open and looked around for life. A tinge of relief and distress mixed her emotions as she saw there was no living thing near her. She was relieved for no threat around her but a string of hope had wished she had teleported near Master Chief. That meant she was alone in her quest to seek out her "brothers." Whoever they were. Why was it important for her to find them? No, a better question would be why was it important to the monster?

Well, Kat wasn't going to find the answers lying around. She sat up and looked at the river in front of her. The water rushed over rapids with large boulders changing the whole course of the river. The mountains on either side were so steep that tons of eroded rocks had been strewn throughout the entire valley. Even the walls of the mountains were so jagged it looked like they were built by stacked rocks. The entire sky was a light shade of gray, looking like a rock ceiling for the two rock walls. A light mist in the air, made it difficult to see past the forest on either ends of the valley. Some trees also grew in the valley though they were shorter and their stubby branches had very little foliage. There were remnants of these trees crushed by fallen boulders giving account to how easily life was crushed by the giant mountains in this valley. There was one shrubbery that seemed to thrive in every rock crevice though. It only added to the harsh look of the valley since it was a tangle of tough, thorny vines.

Immediately, Kat felt uneasy. Anyone could easily hide in this valley. There were plenty of rocks to conceal watching eyes and she needed to get under cover before someone did notice her. Kat made a move to stand and gasped as a shot of pain came from her leg. She looked down and cursed. In the middle of her left thigh was a long gash in her black armor with dried blood coating it. Of course, when she was escaping the crumbling temple a wall had fallen on her leg. That was going to leave more that a mere scratch.

Kat's eyes surveyed the area quickly and she crawled towards a boulder that had been heavily eroded by the river so it over hung the river. She moved underneath the cover and saw that the river probably eroded the rock during flooding. Luckily, it wasn't flooding season so there was a dry area where she could sit beside the river.

Kat removed the armor around her thigh so the black under-suite showed. She put her whole left leg in the river and rubbed the dried blood off till fresh blood oozed and she could inspect the damage. Slowly, Kat peeled the under-suite away from the wound and saw that most of her thigh was bruised with a black and blue color. A long, red gash dominated the outer-side of her leg. The injury had gone almost to the bone.

As Kat debated whether to stitch up the wound herself or to fill it with biofoam, the decision was made for her. An assault rifle shot echoed through the valley which was replied by Covenant and human sounding weapons. Kat pulled out a needle, jabbed it in the wound, and uttered silent curses as the foam filled the wound and stung like a nest of bees.

The weapon fire drew closer as Kat fit her armor back into place. She made sure she punched the bent armor back into place and that the jagged edges of the sliced armor would not dig into the wound again. She reached for her weapon on her back and found nothing. Another curse slipped through her lips. At least she was built and trained to be a weapon. So all she had to do was fight till she got a gun.

Shadow moved cautiously toward the fighting, taking time to study the area for any movement as well as not leaning heavily on her leg. She kept glancing at the mountain faces. A sixth sense had her wary of the cliffs and the nagging feeling wasn't going away. It was thanks to her careful surveying that she discovered the jackal sniper atop a tall boulder with his back towards her. She crawled up to him mostly with her arms, snapped his neck, and claimed his weapon and his spot.

Kat knelt behind a rock with the beam rifle in position. A quick overview of the battlefield showed Covenant forces, all elites, grunts, and jackals, pushing a group of human marines back to their base at the end of the valley. Shadow went to work, clearing most of the elites that had been in cover from the marines but not from her. Since she had been one of the better snipers in the Spartan II group, every trigger pull was a head shot and she made sure to wait a second between shots. The rest of the elites got smart once they realized they were flanked and sought cover from both sides as well as returning fire on Shadow.

Kat jumped off of the boulder and immediately regretted it when pain shot up her leg and forced her down on to one knee. A nearby elite saw the falter and charged, but Shadow rolled to the side and lifted the particle beam rifle as he skidded past her, and shot him in the back of the head at point-blank range. A few upset grunts and jackals then started pelting her with needles and plasma. Shadow flipped backwards, balancing perfectly on her good leg, and shot them all down within a few seconds (she had to wait for the weapon to cool between shots). The Covenant weapon blinked in warning as it grew low on battery and Shadow leaned over to take the elite's plasma rifle that had dropped when she had killed him.

A marine yelled in agony as he fell and Shadow turned her attention on the feeble defensive line the marines had behind boulders. "Shape up marines!" Kat said over a COM channel, "Group together and keep them back. I'll do the rest."

"Yes, ma'am!" A few marines replied as Shadow returned to work.

She walked steadily through the boulders, mowing down Covenant with plasma. It was easy since mostly grunts and jackals remained. She was getting worried till four elites in red armor jumped from their hiding places all around her.

Shadow heaved a sigh of relief, "Oh good, you guys showed up just when I was getting bored."

Elite 1 and Elite 2 yelled and started firing their duel plasma rifles while Elite 3 charged and Elite 4 waved an energy sword at her. Shadow flipped backwards (landing on her good leg again) and put Elite 3 in a choke hold while he took the plasma fire for her. Elite 4 lunged with his sword and she swung the limp number 3 at him. He staggered to the side, giving her enough time to knock him down with a kick and pull out the Covenant rifle to shoot number 2 in the head. Since she was in semi-close range, the beam pierced his shields as well as his skull. Shadow jumped as number 4 swung his sword along the ground. She twisted in the air and brought her elbow down on his neck. He coughed out air and blue blood for the last time. Shadow wrenched the sword from his stiffening hand and whirled around.

Elite 1 stood frozen above her with his fists raised to strike her – and a plasma sword in his gut. Shadow drove the plasma sword further up and stood as the elite body crumbled to the ground.

Adrenaline had her senses on high alert. That's why she quickly detected the elite crawling up to a marine tending to an injured comrade. Shadow sprinted, the adrenaline numbing any pain in her leg, and lunged with the sword. The blade easily sliced through the elite's shield and impaled through the back. The marine let out a startled cry and Shadow tossed the body to the side. She looked over the area and saw that her work was done. She carefully inspected the mountain side again. The uncomfortable feeling about the cliffs had her on edge (figuratively).

"Shadow?" A familiar voice said in front of her.

Kat turned her head from looking at the mountain and a grin spread across her lips. "I see I'm still having to save your hide, Rookie."

"Good to see you too Shadow." He smirked back, "If you hadn't come along, we would've been toast."

"Well I couldn't have my favorite marine toast. Who would babysit me?"

"I'm sure you would manage. Oh, and they call me D'Artagnan now."

Kat snorted, "As in The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan? That's even harder to say..."

"They call me Dart for short." He said with a pleading look. She knew he had not enjoyed the name she had given him.

"Fine, you will always be Rookie to me but I guess I can call you D'Artagnan if you want."

D'Artagnan grinned and leaned over his unconscious comrade and pick him up. "I have to take my friend to base. He hit his head on a rock. He got scared during the fight and slipped on the gravel." Dart chuckled and looked sideways at Shadow as they started walking down to the base. "He reminded me of how scared I was when the Covenant boarded the Cario station."

"Everyone gets scared sometimes." Kat could almost feel tentacles tightening around her body. "Even I do." Her voice had shuddered at the end and Dart cast a surprised look in her direction but remained silent.

The quiet gave Kat time to observe the base the marines had set up at the mouth of the valley. It was a good concept to put it here because it was raised on a huge platform boulder between the mountains. They had just not considered the enumerable places Covenant could spy on them. Or maybe they did. Maybe they wanted the Covenant to know they were here so they would think twice before moving through the valley. Kat didn't like it though. She looked again up at the cliff where the shifting evening shadows and the descending cloud cover made it appear that the whole mountain was full of enemies. She shivered at the thought. There was something wrong with the mountains.

A group of marines started to move from the base towards them at a jog. Kat knew something was wrong immediately. They had their weapons ready and their gazes never left Dart and Kat as they advanced. Kat slowed to a stop and Dart stopped a few feet later and looked back with a confused expression.

"What's wrong, Shadow?" He asked, shifting his burden a little bit so it wasn't awkward as he turned to look at her still form.

"It seems I have my own escort."

Dart looked back to the marines closing in and then to Kat. "They can't...they wouldn't...you're a soldier like one of us. You just saved us..." He was silenced as dozens of feet crunched and scattered rocks loudly in their jog. The next moment, Shadow stood in the middle of a circle formed by guns and humans.

"Shadow, you will come with us quietly." One of the marines stated and all Kat could do was nod in compliance. She was not thought as a comrade to these men. Their hard eyes showed that they saw her as a murderer of their friends. One marine gripped his weapon in such anger that it shook. This was a recent killing. Something she didn't do. Something that had been terribly wrong.

* * *

I've been out of town so this is a late chapter but this is one of the longer ones. I would like to do a vote of how many people like Kat being a cat (with ears on her helmet and tail) or is this viewed as being uncool?


	13. Chapter 13 Misty Relations

The sky had darkened. Thick clouds pressed into the valley from the mountains and reduced visibility to 20 feet. The humidity caused a slight mist to dampen the rocks and make them slick. Makeshift tents built from rock slate, cloth, and steel loomed as shadows in the foggy mist. Blue lights glowed within the fog and fought the night closing in. Brighter white lights pointed outward from the base in an attempt to reveal more of the area. One of the white lights hung from a tall pole in the middle of the base and pointed down like a spotlight.

That's where Kat stood. Like an obsidian statue in the middle of a stage. The circled audience of marines stood in the darker area of the spotlight and made sure their guns aimed at her. Dart was the only one that stood with no weapon pointed at her. He had deposited his friend in the medic tent and came to stand outside the ring of marines that had marched Kat to the center of the base and made her stand there.

The waiting was just annoying to Kat. She figured she was just waiting for the leading officer to arrive and explain what was going on because they weren't trying to kill her...yet. Whether they killed her or not, they needed to hurry or she was going to die anyway. The biofoam was barely holding and Kat had been feeling blood running down her leg from the wound. She had to stand though. Any sudden movement could make the marines jumpy. She also had the engrained discipline to be presentable to leading officers and give a correct salute.

A noise from one of the larger tents caught Kat's attention and she tilted her head in the direction. A man stepped out into the blue glowing lights in front of the tent. The extra lights on that particular tent allowed Kat to make out his weathered face. His brown hair was strictly cut to military code. His jaw line was sharp and exhibited two long scars that reached up to his cheek and seemed to point to his deep hazel eyes. A crooked nose showed that it had once been broken but it added to the mans warlike features.

He gazed at Kat in the middle of her circle with an expressionless face. He turned to finish his conversation with the other man that had followed him out of the tent and they walked up to the circle. Kat spotted the bars on his uniform distinguishing him as a Sergeant and read his name was "Copeland." Kat gave a perfect military salute and the Sergeant returned a more casual one.

"Sorry for the cold welcome, Shadow." His eyes flicked to her wounded leg and then made a show of pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "We have had many of our scout groups go missing lately. The ones that do come back report seeing a shadow of a man in a distance. So what am I to think when an ex-Spartan, with the possibility of being controlled by our enemy, shows up during a firefight? To make matters even worse, your name _is_ Shadow and I'm guessing it was given to you because of your stealth." He walked a few steps puffing his cigarette before pulling it out to wave in the humid air. "I know this is asking a lot, but will you withstand being restrained while in my base? In return, I'll make sure your leg is cared for and your armor is repaired."

"What happens if the culprit isn't found or I need to leave?" Kat asked simply, noting the puddle of blood forming by her foot.

Sergeant Copeland looked her long in the eye, even through the helmet. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

With that reassuring note, the Sergeant started giving orders. Thick metal cuffs were put on Kat's wrists in front of her and a guard was sent with Kat as she limped into the medic tent. A table had already been prepared with a doctor standing by who hurried her to lay down and worked quickly to remove her leg armor and begin tending the injury. Kat leaned her head back and relaxed all her muscles. The stress on her body and mind had finally hit and she felt weary. A few moments later her chest rose and fell with steady, slow breathing and her head tilted to one side as she slept.

Kat woke the next day to screaming. She sat up swiftly and paused when a shock of pain came from her left leg. She spotted the two guards near her first since they had tensed with her sudden movement and had halfway raised their weapons. Kat could have been able to disarm them by their sluggishness but they also could have killed her in the deep sleep she had been in from blood loss.

Kat's eyes glanced over the interior of the tent. The walls were made from parts of supply crates and posts had been drilled into the rock to hold up a military green tarp for a ceiling. There were twenty evenly spaced tables in the middle of the tent near the door. Thirty beds took up the back of the tent with most of the occupied. Kat's bed had been separated from the rest and put against an empty wall. Eight doctors and nurses bustled around the first tables where it seemed some wounded had just arrived.

She then noticed the man writhing on a table closest to the door. Most of his face and neck was seared black. Thick shrapnel pieces caused blood to gush all over the table and the nurses and doctors trying to hold him down. It was an interesting wound but Kat concluded the shrapnel was from a warthog. The nurses were having trouble with the man since he was heavily built with muscles and was easily throwing off hands.

Kat tilted her silver visor towards her guards, "Am I allowed to assist them?"

The guards exchanged confused looks and then gazed at the struggling mass. One guard shrugged to his friend and replied, "I guess." Then realizing she could be dangerous added, "Don't try anything funny though."

Kat made a helpless gesture with her cuffed hands, knowing full well she could easily escape, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She limped over to the table and tapped a nurse on the shoulder. He turned to look at the black helmet with the reflective silver visor a note of surprise on his face.

"May I?" Kat asked simply and the nurse silently nodded and got out of the way. Kat stepped up to the empty spot at the table and the next instant had the struggling, wounded man pinned to the table with her cuffed forearms across his shoulders. A doctor stabbed the man's arm with a needle and stepped back to watch. A few minutes later, the man calmed down and straps were pulled over his body to hold him down.

Kat stepped back and started to limp back to her bed. Another nurse touched Kat's arm and murmured a, "Thank you," before rushing to help with the surgery. The ex-Spartan sat on the edge of her bed and looked back at her guards. Their eyes weren't even on her. They were watching the shrapnel removal procedure on the man. Kat unlatched her helmet and lifted it off her head, shaking away the short brown hair that fell into her face.

"Do you think Cooper'll make it?" One of the guards asked his friend as Kat laid her helmet beside her.

"He's one of the toughest soldiers I know." The other replied, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"You guys aren't very good guards." Kat said after a minute of silence. The two men jumped, probably scared by the voice that didn't come from helmet speakers, and turned to see Kat with no helmet on. Their wide-eyed faces were frozen. Kat sighed. She usually had this effect on men. Apparently, she was considered beautiful by most men. She didn't see how since her face sported her share of battle scars.

Her yellow eyes leveled on the still form of Cooper as doctors and nurses kept removing bits of shrapnel. "Is he a friend of yours?" She asked, her even tone sounded smooth in the hectic atmosphere.

"Cooper is a harsh guy," A guard answered, "He is your friend on the battlefield but not in the barracks."

"Sounds like he knows what he's doing." Kat said, "What happened to him?"

"A Brute attack hit an outpost this morning."

"I didn't even think the Brutes were in the area." The other guard murmured.

"You haven't encountered Brutes in the valley yet?" Kat's eyebrow rose in mild interest.

"No, we've just had Elites, jackals, and grunts." A guard shifted his weapon as he replied, "This valley was tagged important by a higher up so we set up a base here as soon as we could. Apparently, we are protecting an important land route to a Forerunner facility and we have had to battle everyday since we got here. Without Sergeant Copeland, we would've been stomped out the first day."

"He seems like a very reasonable man." Kat gazed down at the cuffs in her lap. She did understand where he was coming from and why he had wanted to put her under guard. It probably was more to reassure his men than to keep her restrained. That was why Kat was so accepting of the terms. Copeland made sure his men didn't get frazzled by some discrimination or rumor and that Kat was able to get the medical and repair help she needed.

"Yeah, he's the best superior I've ever had in my career." A guard said, casually leaning back against a support post for the tent. Amusement touched Kat's eyes as she observed him.

"I hope that doesn't mean I allow slacking." A deep voice said behind the guard.

"S-Sergeant Copeland!" The guards snapped to attention. The sweat almost running down their face. Kat grinned and would've saluted as well if she wasn't in the position of prisoner.

"You men are setting a bad example for our visitor." Copeland said as he walked in front of them shaking his head, "Sloppy! You both need lessons in discipline again. You could learn a lot from Shadow here if you two would open your eyes. She was trained to be the best. She's more of an asset just sitting there than you bozos are at shooting a grunt. Now show a little respect and treat her like a superior."

Sergeant Copeland turned sharply to Kat and she was almost afraid she was going to get reprimanded after all the praise he had showered on her. His rugged face softened however and he seemed to give a small bow. "I have your damaged armor being repaired. Do you need anything else? I bet these buffoons haven't even offered you something to eat." A sharp gaze made the guards straighten their backs even more.

"Food would be nice but isn't necessary and I was hoping I could have my helmet looked at too." Kat said, lifting the helmet up and tilting it to look at the crack in the visor. "I had to do some field repairs and I'm sure it is not up to par."

Sergeant Copeland took the helmet and shoved it in the guards hands. "Be useful and take this to our tinker. Williams, get the lady something to eat and drink. And get back here to finish your guard duty." The men hurried out of the tent as if their hair was on fire.

The Sergeant leaned against the tent pole that Williams had just been leaning on. "The doctor said it's a miracle you stood on your leg." Copeland murmured as he stuck a cigarette between his teeth and brought out a lighter. "He almost died of shock when I told him you actually cleared a whole Covenant platoon on your leg." He chuckled a little and took a long puff of the tobacco.

Kat took the pause to speak, "You seem to have dealt with Spartans before."

A cloud of sadness swept over Copeland's face and he was silent as he stared at nothing. A moment passed before he cleared his throat and stood up straight. "Yes...I've run into Spartans more than once in my career. It has given me a solid respect for what you Spartans do." His deep brown eyes latched onto Kat's and she could almost feel the profound respect he had for the Spartans.

Williams bounded into the tent with a metal tray of food and a drink. The Sergeant quickly broke the gaze. "Williams!" The man straighten where he was and seemed to try and salute awkwardly, "You and the rest of the Stooges are in charge of guarding Shadow. I trust you can split the duties between yourselves?" Copeland walked over to him and looked him hard in the eye.

"Y-yes sir!" Williams stuttered, having a hard time of keeping his eyes fixed on the invisible horizon.

"Good," The Sergeant walked out the door and Kat wondered what his previous experience with Spartans was.

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Yay long chapter! Keep reviewing or I'm going to think no one's reading anymore.


	14. Chapter 14 Darkness Descended

Three days passed in the base. Kat busied herself with surveillance. All she did really was sit atop a tall crate in the base and scan the area with binoculars. She actually spotted three elite groups and gave the marines a big enough heads-up that they were eliminated with few human casualties. The marines grew more friendly because of her help but they were still cautious. Kat wasn't very concerned about the Marines though. She was focusing mainly on the mountains, looking for the "Shadow" the Marines thought she was. She spent hours sitting atop a high crate just staring at the mass of rocks. The only confirmation Kat had were glimpses of movement she caught from the corner of her eyes. The glimpses were barely confirmation since there had been plenty of birds flying through the valley.

Kat sighed and dropped the binoculars. She leaned forward in the cloth stool and put her elbows on her knees. A slight pull on her wound reminded her of her disability but she refused to change positions. Instead, Kat's yellow eyes glanced over the valley and the base. Her crate was part of a tent near the entrance of the base like a castle tower. The other tents behind her were situated in parallel, straight rows. However, the conglomerate materials of the tents took away from the organized feel.

It was mid morning and the rare sun shine had made the night's cold a memory. The weather was going to change fast though because of the thick clouds forming at the mountain peaks. The marines were oblivious to the coming weather and almost seemed to dance about their tasks. A few of the marines even called out greetings to her as they passed. Her guards were chatting to some friends a few tents away, not taking their duties seriously.

Kat then spotted Sergeant Copeland standing in between two tents staring up at the descending clouds. He appeared very solemn as he contemplated them. It was almost as if he were deciding between life and death. His gaze dropped and locked onto Kat's stare. A brief, weak smile touched his lips as if to say everything was fine. Then he noticed the empty space below her where the guards should be and irritation flashed across his face. Kat grinned as she watched him angrily march over to her guards and send them running around the base with a drill instructor.

Dart replaced her guards and brought her lunch. It was actually enjoyable talking and sharing stories. He told stories of his life before the military and Kat recounted non-classified missions she had been in. For Kat, it was interesting to learn of civilian life and she was sure it was interesting for Dart to learn of Spartan life. While they talked, the clouds overwhelmed the sun and sky. The cheeriness left the atmosphere as the air grew humid.

A marine shuffled up to Kat and Dart and informed them that Kat's armor was finished. The news lightened Kat's spirit as they walked to the mechanic's tent. Her armor had been cleaned and repaired and appeared as if nothing had been broken. Dart removed the hand cuffs and made a mild show of keeping her at gun point. As she started putting on the armor, the mechanic informed her that the left leg armor had been supported with extra padding that she could remove once her wound had healed. He also made a few remarks about how difficult it was to repair armor that was made by Covenant.

"Feels like new." Kat said, testing her helmet while moving around in her armor. She didn't feel her leg injury at all with the support now in her armor. She threw a glance at the mirror and couldn't help but feel pleased with the shine she saw in the black, form fitting armor. It was a treat to see her armor look so good.

Kat turned her gleaming silver visor towards the mechanic. "Thank you, sir. You did amazing work. I truly am grateful." The man grumbled a 'my pleasure' and blushed but Kat could tell he was bursting with pride. Dart put the hand cuffs back on Kat and they walked out.

The high spirit Kat had left her as they stepped into a fog-filled world. Her skin tingled even in her temperature controlled suit. The fog was so thick that seeing ten feet ahead was difficult. She switched her helmet to night vision and easily saw the base in front of her with green outlines. Yet, an overwhelming uneasy feeling had her senses on high alert. Something was wrong...or someone was missing.

"Where is the Sergeant?" Kat asked Dart in a low voice, constantly looking over the base they were passing.

"He went to check on the outposts three hours ago when he sent me to guard you." Dart's voice shook slightly as he sensed her uneasiness.

"Go find the exact location and send me the coordinates."

"Y-yes, ma'am!" Dart quickly left Kat, apparently guarding her had become a minor thing.

Kat took off towards the exit and wasn't even stopped by the marines there. A minute later Dart contacted her with the Sergeants location and informed her that they hadn't been able to open a COM with him. Kat tensed and sprinted as fast as she could towards the NAV marker. She was mildly surprised there was no pain from her leg and made a note to compliment the mechanic on the support. She was too busy to think of anything else as she made it her mission to run as fast as she could to the Sergeant. She hurdled rocks and darted in between boulders. She was going to slow down when she drew close but a loud yell urged her even faster.

Kat burst from behind a boulder and time seemed to slow as she took in the situation. Mangled and bloody marine bodies were scattered around a rock hut that must be the outpost. Sergeant Copeland was being strangled on the ground by a dark figure only feet away. Kat's stride didn't change as she took two more steps and pounced on the enemy. She swung her cuffed arms around his neck and held him in a chock hold as her momentum threw both of them rolling away. Copeland gasped for air but was incapacitated so all he could do was watch.

Rock pieces scattered in their struggle as the enemy twisted in her hold. A solid elbow to Shadow's abdomen knocked the air out of her and her hold loosened enough for the foe to slip out and roll away. The strike seemed to shake a memory but Kat swiftly got to feet in a defensive stance and took her first full look at the enemy. She froze. She hadn't been hit that hard since...training on Reach.

The man standing in front of Kat had the same black, form-fitting armor the Covenant had given her. His shoulder's were broad and his waist narrow. His stance was like a tiger. He was still as a statue. Kat's heartbeat accelerated.

"Mat?" Her whisper quivered in the still air. His shoulder's stiffened, just like Mat would do when he was surprised. The confirmation that it was him almost made her fall to her knees. Her teammate was alive. The comrade that had been through numerous missions and battles with her was now standing in front of her. Mat wasn't dead.

Then the next realization hit her. Mat was under the Covenant's control. The Covenant had taken not only her but Mat as well. He was the Prophet's pet - like she had been.

"Mat," Kat's voice still quivered, "It's me...Kat. You have to remember. You are being controlled-" Mat yelled and flew forward with such speed, Shadow could only bring up her arms to block. The punch went through the handcuffs and into Kat's chest. She then had to keep defending against a series of punches and kicks. She threw a few counterattacks with her now free arms but they did little to slow Mat down. Then, Shadow made a terrible error. She saw an opening on his right as he punched and instinct made her kick his side with her left leg. Before she could withdraw her leg however, Mat brought his elbow down on her thigh.

Shadow cried out and swiftly jumped back. The damage had been done. The Covenant controlled Mat knew her weakness. She felt him grin evilly and was immediately set off balance by his first attack which made her lean on her now sore leg. Kick after kick rained on her left thigh and Shadow was pushed against a rock wall. The attacks stopped and she gasped for air leaning against the rock, unaware that she had been painfully screaming with each kick. Her leg would not hold her up when she put pressure on it. Shadow couldn't even defend herself as she watched Mat bring his leg up for one final kick in her abdomen. Air left her lungs as she was pushed back against a rock wall that cracked and crumbled with her.

The dust settled quickly with the heavy mist. Kat coughed and tasted copper. Rocks had buried half of her. She made no move as Mat's hand covered her visor and he lifted her limp body out of the rubble. Kat looked in between the fingers over at Sergeant Copeland, his arm twisted in an awkward way on the ground. He looked at her with the one eye that wasn't swollen, defeat clear in his expression.

Then Kat gazed at the silver visor in front of her. She really was defeated. She hadn't even saved one of her dearest friends. Hopeless tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks.

"I...I'm sorry, Mat." The words choked and Kat's head was rammed against rock. Darkness descended.

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_"My Spartan senses are tingling" Kat said to Dart in a low voice._

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. If you enjoyed reading it, please review!


	15. Chapter 15 Pleasurable Meetings

So sorry for the late update. Please review to keep me working!

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Pain was the first sensation Kat registered as she returned to consciousness. It was more than physical. An emotional wound had sheared through her defensive wall. It had been hard to think that her comrade had died. It was even harder to realize he was alive and under the enemies control. She was used to being able to save others from bullets but she couldn't save a friend from himself. The depression was making her head throb...and whisper voices in her head.

Kat's eyes snapped open and she sat up against the wall she had been laying against. An Elite murmured a curse in his language at her sudden movement. She barely noticed as she fumbled with a pack near her belt, pulled out a needle, and stabbed her arm. Her mind was going in circles. When was the last time she even took the medicine for the control liquid? Had she been under control? What had happened?

"I had hoped the Control Liquid had killed you." Kat looked up and saw an Elite in purple-black armor. "I guess it's just my luck to be stuck with the Shadow." He was leaning against a side wall in their little room. The wall she was facing was a plasma field being generated from a device on the other side from the ground. Past the opaque purple was a larger, tan colored room. There were two levels on the other side of the room, with rows of cells much like her own but there were only elite occupants. In the middle of the room, a group of six Brutes were playing a game around a stone block.

"How do you know who I am?" Kat asked carefully, tensing her muscles one-by-one to make sure they would respond if needed.

The Elite scoffed, "Every member of the Covenant knows the Shadow. You were the Prophets prized pet." An edge of what seemed like jealousy entered his tone, "They barely even noticed the ones that had killed thousands more humans than you."

The ex-Spartan shifted to cover the wince that shot from her left leg when she tried testing those muscles. She focused harder on their conversation to distract herself. "I'm guessing you've slaughtered enough to earn your rank at a Spec Ops Officer."

"More than enough!" His black-brown eyes flashed towards her in anger, "I would've been an Honor Guard or a Ship Master If I had not questioned the Prophets..." His anger quickly disapated when he realized he had set himself up for an uncomfortable question.

Kat couldn't help the curiousity to prod the question. "What did you ask?"

The Elite twisted his head away and after a few minutes it seemed he wouldn't answer. "I asked why Humans could not join the Covenant, for I believe that since they were respectable and honorable warriors."

"Is that why the elite's are in cells?" Kat asked carefully of her cell-mate, knowing this probably was a touchy subject.

"No, the Prophets have replaced us," He grunted, "Jiralhanae." His eyes flashed in the direction of the Brutes. "We failed to protect the Prophet of Regret from the Demon,so the Prophet's Honor Guard was made all Jiralhanae." The elite seemed to become dejected and was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "The Great Journey is a lie as well. The Arbiter discovered the truth of the rings."

This was the first time Kat felt sympathy for an elite. His whole world had just been turned upside down and shaken. That had to be hard for anyone. It had to be harder for elites though since they admired honor above all else. Their beliefs were also important to them and to have that taken from them as well...it had to be like ripping their hearts out.

Kat sighed and leaned her head against the wall as she watched the Brutes play. "The Prophets seem to be very good as using others."

The Elites head snapped up and he studied her carefully with a calculating look. "I suppose since you are the Shadow, you would know how that feels."

Kat's silver visor tilted towards the Elite, "Yes, but I haven't stopped fighting because of it." She paused, studying his almost pitch black brown eyes. "Have you?" Her question was direct and she could tell it hit hard in his eyes.

"I..." His expression shifted from hurt to anger and his mandibles tightened, "You know nothing of how shameful it is to be defeated and shamed enough to be thrown in with prisoners! I am required by honor to take my life. They took my weapon so even that impossible."

The fire that still flashed in his eyes made Kat determined to convince him to give him a reason to live. "You know your race is fighting against extinction now, just like mine. Every Elite is needed to fight. If you give up now, what good will that do for your people? Regain your honor by fighting back."

A Brute grunted and shoved another away from the stone game table. "I tire of these games. Let's have fun with one of these prisoners." A chorus of roars and grunts agreed and the speaker walked along the cells on the other wall. He didn't seem pleased with the Elites on that side and turned towards their wall. A grin curled his big lips as his bead-like eyes locked onto their cell.

"Let's see if the Spec Ops Officer is any fun." He sauntered over to their field generator and pressed a button to drop the plasma. He grabbed Kat's cell-mate with one had on his shoulder and pulled him out wiggling before restoring the field.

The Brutes then started a cruel game of tossing, punching, and kicking the struggling Elite. Kat gritted her teeth and crawled closer to the plasma field. Her thigh protested, reminding her that Mat still needed saving. First however, she was going to prioritize saving the Elite. Kat modified her shield generator and started to overload them.

The Elite suddenly kicked a Brute in the face and a cheer rose from the Elites in the cells. The Brutes attitudes quickly changed to anger and two Brutes pinned the Elite to the ground by his shoulders. A Brute Shot was handed to the leader and he started to raise it to behead the Elite. Kat's pulse quickened as she watched the count down in her HUD and the struggling Elite. Six more seconds. In eight the Elite will be dead. She calmed her breathing and concentrated. Her focus was on the Brute Shot. The bladed weapon started falling towards the neck. A second later, a white-yellow blast of an EMP filled half of the inner room, followed a second later by a purple flash.

The Brutes were stunned. Their eyes still refocusing from the flash of bright white light. Seconds later, Shadow had taken the Brute Shot, kicked back the Brute's holding the Elite, and fired the grenade launcher into the group of Brutes. Kat stood in front of the Elite and emptied all the ammunition. By the time the weapon 'clicked' empty, half of the room was fill with a gray smoke.

The Elite stood up next to Kat and grabbed two plasma rifles from a rack near them. A moment later, five Brutes burst from the smoke in a berserk rage. Shadow ducked under the first and drove the Brute Shots blade through his neck with the help of his momentum. She spun around his side, pulling the blade free and slashing at another Brute. This Brute ducked his head and the blade only gashed his shoulder. His hands grabbed her torso and threw her against a wall. Shadow barely had time to recover before he rammed into her. She hissed as the air left her lungs but still lifted the weapon and drove the point of the Brute Shot into the back of his neck.

Shadow shoved the body off her and saw the Elite shoved to the ground by a tackle. A Brute stomped a foot on his chest and a Spike Rifle was pointed at his head. Adreniline made time slow down. Shadow ran forward and leaped head-long right as the Brute pulled the trigger. Kat grunted. Spikes drove into the back of her right shoulder as she looked down at the shocked Elite's face. Time returned to normal. She gritted her teeth and swung her arm around to grab the weapon and twist it out of the Brutes grasp. With her left hand she punched his face and knocked him off the Elite. The Brute whailed and grabbed at his face as blood gushed from his nose. Then he berserked.

Kat had never been afraid of an enraged Brute but this one was different. His eyes appeared to be on fire probably due to the fact that his whole face was bloody now. He ran on all fours towards her, lunged, and pinned her to the wall with his hands gripping her abdomen. Shadow screamed as the spikes drove through her shoulder and out the front. Shuddering with the pain, she kneed the Brute's chin and knocked him off balance. She slipped out of his grip as the Elite pelted him with spikes in the back from the Brute's own Spiker. Shadow pulled the spikes out of her shoulder and drove them into the Brutes face.

Shadow did not look at the corpse after it crumbled to the ground. She was desensitized to the gore but it was not something she enjoyed. Kat looked down at the two holes in her shoulder, blood was pouring out but it seemed the spikes hadn't hit anything vital but muscle. Kat pulled out a biofoam vial and let the foam fill the holes in her shoulders. When she looked back up, the Elite was staring at her with respect.

"You may call me N'wi 'Ganam, Shadow. I am in your debt." The Elite said, nodding his head in a sort of bow.

"Pay me back later. Now we have to free your kin and get out of here." Shadow said, picking up a plasma rifle and starting to shoot at the cells' field generators. She had other problems to deal with too. Such as trying to restore her shields. Once she freed a few cells, she stood near the exit door and tried to figure out her shields while the rest were free. Kat bit her lip as she fiddled around with it in her HUD. Causing the EMP with her shield overload had fried them. She couldn't even divert power from other systems to restore them.

"Shall we get out of here Shadow?" N'wi walked up to her and brought her back to the mission at hand. She nodded and they slipped through the door with a group of Elites following her. The next rooms were empty. That seemed strange to Kat and N'wi agreed. The alarm that the prisoners had escaped should have gone out. They proceeded cautiously but Kat wasn't prepared for the final room.

Rows of twenty Brutes faced them. A leader stood on a raised floor with ramps leading up to it on either side. Behind him was an open doorway viewing a mountainside and sky. Beside him was Mat.

N'wi glanced over to Shadow when she stiffened and looked back at the Human next to the Brute. When the leader ordered the attack, Mat darted to the side and Kat followed. She paused behind cover when the Brutes started firing but her eyes were focused on Mat. She didn't see the plasma granade that landed on the cover.

"Shadow!" N'wi yelled, tackling Kat away from the cover and letting his shields take the spray of shrapnel. Kat gritted her teeth at her error as N'wi pulled her back on her feet. When she looked for Mat again, he was gone.

"Thanks N'wi." She muttered, crouching behind a crate.

He ducked behind a crate next to her. "You blew out her shields to save me. It is only fitting I save you with my own."

"Then you've fulfilled your debt." Shadow said, shooting at Brute heads with the carbine she had picked up a few rooms back.

"Yes and no." N'wi said, also firing from the cover. "You fight with honor even when you are down and you've helped me take back the honor that was taken from me. That is worthy of respect and I will always be indebted to you for teaching me that."

"Good, then you don't mind if I make you my cover then?" Shadow's silver visor glinted.

N'wi's mandibles twitched in a way that suggested a grin and he reloaded the Spiker. "Meat shield it is then."

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"Hey N'wi."  
"Yes, Shadow?"  
"We're in prison."  
"...Yes we are."  
"Hey N'wi."  
"What is it Human?"  
"...Don't drop the soap."


	16. Chapter 16 Meatbag Status

Sorry it has taken me a few months but I made sure I had an ending this time so the next updates should come faster. Thank you for your patience!

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Shadow flipped back as a shower of plasma rained over her head. She had landed near a Brute however and dodged his instinctive swing while firing a few shots at his forehead. The shots deflected off his helmet till one knocked his head back, as well as his helmet. This did make him angry and he quickly hunched forward and closed the range Shadow had. He was too close. His face was inches away from her visor. He let out one breath and fogged her visor before Shadow brought up the butt of her riffle and smacked his head to the side, knocking him off balance. She kicked him in the side and sent him to the ground beside her. He grunted as he collapsed and a plasma beam shot through his head.

How had she let him get so close? That wasn't only uncomfortable, that was dangerous. _Must be getting sloppy_. Kat glumly mulled as she fired on a Brute attacking an Elite in a berserk rage. Plasma suddenly pelted her armor on her right and she dove behind a pillar for cover. Shadow glanced at the burns on the armor before stealing a look at the battle and ducking again at fire. She had to remember she had no shields. Those hits only smeared her freshly cleaned armor but they could have been worse if the shooter had been closer. The Brute was still watching her too, which meant she was stuck. Where was N'wi? He had disappeared and Shadow was sure he wasn't in the room. A crate flew against the other side of the pillar due to an explosion. It was a Brute Shot because another explosion made N'wi land next to her.

Kat grabbed his shoulder and pulled him behind the cover before another round could hit him. "Where have you been?"

N'wi grunted and slowly sat up holding his chest. A tinge of worry fluttered through Kat till she looked at his wound and saw it was nothing serious but a few scrapes. N'wi probably only had the air knocked out of him by the blast. She allowed him a few minutes by shooting at the Brutes from the cover.

N'wi coughed a few seconds before he finally spoke. "I ran into the Brute leader…" He took a few more breaths as Shadow fired at a Brute's head. "He sent a Brute force to your human base."

Shadow ducked down as plasma splashed against the pillar and looked at N'wi. She had noticed that some of the Brutes had slipped out the back door. They must be going to eliminate the human base so that they could control the valley and move in a larger force…or block another. A ball of intense light reflected off her visor as it flew through the air towards the Brutes, "Let's end this."

The light glinted in N'wi's eyes and he nodded.

They jumped from behind the cover as the flash grenade landed among the Brutes. Their movements were synchronized as they ran towards the blinded Brutes. Together, they tossed plasma grenades into the midst of the group and then fired at the closest Brute. He fell as the plasma grenades exploded and took down three other Brutes while harming others. The blinding light faded and N'wi struck first, driving a fist into a Brutes chin and then elbowing his arm to claim his Brute plasma riffle. Shadow twirled behind N'wi to avoid fire and returned it by shooting through the Brute's hand holding the weapon and then pelting his head with the carbine riffle.

The Brute N'wi was fighting roared in anger and charged. The Elite easily dodged to the side but turned to see Shadow still in his path, firing at a Brute further away.

"Shadow!" He yelled in warning but she remained where she was and reloaded her weapon. Her silver visor flashed towards the charging Brute that tensed his muscles to ram her. The movement was swift. Shadow dropped to a knee and spun along the ground, kicking the Brute's shins. The Brute flipped forward with a gargled roar as Shadow continued the spin to face the Brute laying on the ground with a carbine barrel on his forehead. The carbine fired, the Brute twitched once, then stilled.

N'wi heard Kat mutter, "Boom. Headshot."

Kat's visor swept the area like a blaze of silver. The other Elites were finishing the few remaining Brutes. Brown furry bodies lay around the room like hills while colorful Elite bodies sprawled across the rest of the area. Her gaze locked on N'wi who was staring at her with mandibles' wide open.

"Shape up N'wi," She snapped and he quickly closed his mouth, "Get your Elites to flank the Brutes heading towards the human base. I've got business to finish." Shadow reloaded and ran out the side door to sprint down a hallway. She had gotten serious. She needed to have complete concentration and awareness to save Mat, especially now that she had injuries that would weaken her and no shields to protect her.

Shadow slowed as she got to the door and let it open as she pressed her back against the wall next to it. She swiftly peered out onto a small cliff that jutted out from the mountain side and hung over the valley below. It appeared empty but she still took no chances as she leapt in the doorway, weapon sweeping the area. Nothing moved on her sensors or in her view. The cliff wasn't as empty as she had thought. Four Banshee's lined an edge of the cliff facing the valley. Carefully, Shadow approached the purple planes. A Brute Shot grenade suddenly flew out towards her and she ducked and rolled to her side. Her move had been anticipated however, another shot landed at perfect chest level.

The explosion pushed Shadow back and sent her skidding towards the wall of the mountain. Another shot rang out and she looked up at the explosion heading towards her. She was far enough away that she had time to avoid it by rolling away but another shot had followed the first. Again, the shooter had known where she would go but they had not expected N'wi to step in front of the shot.

"N'wi!" Kat exclaimed, staring at his back, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you going to the base?"

The Elite glanced back, "My brothers can handle the attack. Besides, I thought we had agreed on meat shield."

Banshee engines whirred to life and Shadow looked up as one of the banshee's took off and a Brute was climbing into another.

"That's the leader!" N'wi hissed, firing with his plasma weapon as Shadow stood up and started running towards the Covenant vehicles. N'wi was close behind her and was able to pull her down when the first banshee flipped and shot a green bomb at them. N'wi's shields were able to take the blunt of the blast and Shadow was quickly trying to get back on her feet. The explosion had given the Brute leader enough time to get in his Banshee and join the first.

"If that's the Brute leader, then the other one must be Mat!" Shadow exclaimed, sprinting towards the remaining aircraft.

"I assume Mat must be your comrade?" N'wi asked, keeping pace with Shadow who only nodded. "Then your comrade is Shade. The Prophet's new pet."

Kat skidded to a stop next to a Banshee, looked at N'wi, and rammed her fist into the hull of the plane. Luckily her anger had only dented the plating. She had released her frustration in that blow and now her head was cleared. She was going to make the Prophets pay, but first she was going to free Mat from their clutches.

"Let's go." Her voice was like steel as she climbed into the Banshee and punched the boost to shoot off the cliff.

N'wi opened a COM with her, "I shall take the Brute leader," his Banshee flew next to her wing, "You save your brother."

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"_Retraction: Did I say that out loud? While it is true you are a meatbag, I should refrain from addressing you as such._"

Review and tell me your favorite character and why! This will help me focus on that character later and maybe give you guys a sketch of them if I get a good turn out!


	17. Chapter 17 Do a Barrel Roll!

Kat had a lot of training on Reach. She had the discipline to learn what she was taught and to practice endlessly. A lot of the time, she lacked the initial skill to do something right the first time. Through practice she was able to be on par with the other Spartans. Unfortunately, flying was one of things she couldn't practice all the time.

The boost button was Kat's friend amongst the purple glowing lights in the Banshee. She was going as fast as the Banshee would let her to catch up to Mat and the Brute leader. They had caught a glimpse of the two around one bend of the cliffs but the walls quickly narrowed. The main valley had split when one mountain jutted into the canyon and forced them to fly with inches to spare between the rock walls. Kat was feeling claustrophobic constricted in the stone walls when suddenly they turned a corner and shot out into an open space.

It was a beach nestled in the U-shape of the mountain. A towering building dominated the entrance to the sea. It was tan and obviously a Forerunner design with straight lines leading up to the center of the ring world. Remnants of a battle scattered the valley. Crumbled Covenant vehicles dotted the beach and adjacent cliffs. There were only a few vehicles but enough to tell that they had been used against each other. A massive scarab sat before the entry pathway, obviously, its occupants were inside.

The view was an afterthought to Kat. What had her attention were the two Banshees in front of her. They had come out of the canyon almost on top of them. Immediately, they both spun to either side. Kat and N'wi split as well. Kat instantly knew she was tailing Mat because he quickly took her into a series of rolls and flips. The Brute leader on the other hand was driving his Banshee like a bull, bucking it up and to the side with quick boosts. She wasn't going to shoot Mat down but maybe she could force his Banshee to crash-land – safely. That was not the best situation. The crash could easily kill him. She bit her lip in concentration. He could easily kill her too. He was the better pilot and he knew it.

Mat rolled left and Kat followed, but while he was in mid-roll, he flipped up. Kat quickly flipped down to avoid the plasma fire and a collision. Her pulse accelerated. She had to get back behind him to stay safe or she was in trouble. Kat boosted away and flipped back to face where they had been. Mat was flying straight at her with plasma leading. The nose of her Banshee vibrated from the plasma hitting it and Kat rolled to the side and boosted to the left of Mat. She flipped back around but a 6th sense alerted her to an incoming plasma bomb and she rolled again. The plasma scraped the top of her hull but only frazzled Kat's senses.

"Shadow, boost away!" N'wi yelled over the COM and she did just that as both enemy Banshees started firing at her. N'wi shot over her and she spun around to see him single the Brute leader out again. The Brute would have none of it however and continued to bare down on Kat. She swerved and saw the Forerunner building was close. Quickly, she shot in between the stone buttresses.

The Brute leader followed and so did N'wi. Kat had to keep swerving in the confined as plasma showered her. Suddenly, there was a metal scrapping sound. Kat looked behind her and saw that the Brute leader's Banshee had pushed N'wi into a stone pillar. N'wi however, ricocheted back and locked wings with him. The momentum of the strike forced both planes against another pillar. An explosion surrounded both Banshees in a cloud of smoke and fire and debris spun to the water below.

"N'wi?" Kat yelled into the COM. Only static answered. "N'wi, no!" Static hissed back at her as she stared at the falling wreckage. She glimpsed a black, twisted body crashing into the water. It had obviously been elite in size.

Kat clenched her teeth. Loosing N'wi was a blow to her gut. They had only known each other for a few hours but a bond had quickly formed. They had been able to work together like a Spartan pair who had trained together their whole life.

Kat spent little time looking at the wreckage and spun out of the pillars. With a determined expression, she started looking for Mat. His Banshee had not followed them but it was easy to spot the purple plane on the end of the pathway leading into the structure. Kat veered closer and saw the black form moving towards the door. She pointed the nose towards the entrance and let the machine dive. Four seconds before impact, Kat jumped from the Banshee and rolled.

The Banshee exploded above the entrance and the wreckage fell in front of the door. Shadow stood up and faced Mat, the debris burning behind her. Mat's shoulders were tense and his fists were clenched. Kat knew those were signs of his rage. Shadow had blocked him from his goal and he was seething in anger. He reached for the Brute Shot on his back and Kat ran forward.

Kat closed the gap before he could pull the trigger. She hooked her arm over the barrel to prevent him from using the blade and then punched him in the face. He was off balance for a second, but it was enough for Kat to jam her fist on the inside of his arm and force him to loosen his grip on the weapon. She then twisted the Brute Shot out of his grip and tossed it over the ledge of the walkway.

Disarming Mat had been Shadow's goal but it had left her vulnerable and unprepared for the kick to her left leg. She cried out in pain and retreated a few steps. She was reminded of the wound that she had been overlooking. The adrenaline had kept the pain in her leg and shoulder at bay but it could no longer be ignored. Mat followed up his attack but Shadow was prepared. They exchanged a fast series of punches and kicks.

Kat could handle the pain if that meant saving Mat. Her quick eye suddenly saw his awkward footing and she dove in, ramming him to the ground. Kat sat on his chest to pin him down and with swift fingers, she unlatched his helmet. Mat froze, a shudder of pain ran through his body and his helmet hissed open. Kat pulled it off his head and froze as well.

Mat's steely blue eyes were milky white. His skin was also a pale white color. Uncut black hair was glued to his head by sweat and a blue cream. Kat's eyes widened. There were two holes on each side of his head and a blue liquid oozed from them. She looked at the inside of the helmet in her hands and saw needles pointing inward. She gasped and saw an even bigger needle meant for the base of his neck.

Mat shoved her off and sat up but paused. He was struggling with the control liquid. His milky eyes were turning blue. Kat threw off her helmet as well and stood up.

"Mat, it's me, Kat." She spoke softly, trying to read his struggling facial expressions. "The Control Liquid is strong but you can fight it now. I stopped the constant flow, but you have to take over again." She carefully stepped forward to force him to look at her face. Her leg throbbed as she knelt in front of him. "Mat, you can fight-"

Mat lunged forward, knife in his hand. The attack was swift. Kat could barely pull up her arm to protect her face. Shearing pain came from her arm as the blade pierced armor, flesh, and bone. Her face contorted in agony as she watched the metal point protrude from her arm towards her face.

"Shade will not be defeated!" Mat hissed, anger burning in his milky eyes as he drove the knife further into Kat's forearm. This time, he was the one who had her pinned on the ground with her left arm being the only thing protecting her neck from the point of the blade.

Kat gritted her teeth against the pain as her arm was being forced down. Her damaged and failing muscles in her left arm were slowly giving up. She had her other arm trying to push up but Mat was able to put his whole body weight down. It was a losing struggle and Kat made a quick decision. She let her arm fall but shifted it to the side. The point of the knife struck the stone floor. Kat's right hand rapidly pulled an anti-Control Liquid needle and stabbed his neck with one swift motion.

Mat hissed and pulled away from her just as quickly as she had struck him. He staggered back, hit his heel, and tumbled on his back.

Kat got into a kneeling position and pulled the knife out of her forearm. Blood flowed freely from the wound and she allowed herself to grab a bandage from her belt and wrap her arm with one deft movement. Her eyes were glued on Mat however. He was slowly getting to his feet but he was wobbling.

Mat jerked towards her, his eyes wild and a snarl on his lips. Kat stepped back as fear welled in her chest. She wasn't one to be frightened all the time but he looked like a dead man with his pale features and goo oozing from his head. She couldn't help but imagine like she had been the cause of his death and now he was after revenge, like a good vengeful zombie.

Her foot slipped and Kat glanced behind her to see she was standing at the edge of the walkway with a massive drop below her. Fear flashed in her eyes as she looked back at Mat. Her expression caused him to stop. His eyes turned to the steel blue that Kat knew him by and suddenly his body was moving towards her. Kat panicked, a single blow would send her over the edge but she braced herself with what little ground she had anyway.

Instead of the expected blow, dead weight fell on her. "Kathrine?" Mat's husky voice murmured next to her ear and a tingle ran down Kat's spine.

The ex-Spartan eased him to the ground carefully. "M-Mat?" She asked anxiously, cradling his head in her good arm.

"Not so loud…"Mat muttered with a wince. His steel-like eyes opened and stared up at Kat, they were red from exhaustion. "It's too quiet without the voice in my head."

A grin spread across Kat's lips, "You love it though."

Mat's exhausted eyes fluttered shut, "Yeah…it's pretty peaceful…"

* * *

Sorry for the delay again my readers. School is craaaazy but I'll try and do my best to put up the last few chapters ^.^

Four seconds before impact, Kat jumped from the Banshee and rolled. The Banshee exploded above the entrance and the wreckage fell in front of the door.  
An annoying voice in her head said, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"


	18. Chapter 18 Thanks for the Memory

Kat carefully laid Mat's head on the stone and leaned back, watching his chest rise and fall. She couldn't believe her teammate had gone through the same torment she had. She wondered what had happened to get him caught as well. He must have tried to rescue her when the Covenant Engineer had her and got caught as well.

A feeling of hope bubbled inside her. If they had captured Mat, then they must have taken Alex as well. That is, if he survived the Covenant transformation. Kat's eyes fell on the helmet with the Control Liquid oozing out of needles. The Prophet's were apparently using stronger methods than they had on her.

The floor suddenly vibrated. Shadow grabbed Mat's shoulders, afraid she was going to have to make a jump for the water below. A loud hiss and boom echoed through the stone and Kat looked up to the peak of the building just as a large white beam shot towards the center of the ring world.

"That's not good." Kat mumbled as the light hit the center and scattered beams of light all over the world. She got into business mode and took out her last biofoam. How had she not refilled that at the base? Kat mildly wondered as she removed the completely blood soaked bandage on her arm and let the foam fill the wound. She kept her mind busy, not letting herself think of the stinging foam in her arm.

Kat stood, equipped her helmet, and walked towards the entrance of the building. Mat's mission had been to get in here and probably activate that light. He hadn't been able to do that, so someone else must have. She approached the wrecked Banshee that was still flaming from the explosion but froze when she heard a sound on the other side.

The Banshee moved slightly and Kat dropped to one knee, picking up a plasma pistol that was near the wreckage. The Banshee suddenly twisted away from the door and fell off the platform. Kat leveled her pistol on the closest form and stopped when she recognized the interesting group. To her surprise, Sergeant Johnson, Commander Keyes, a floating light bulb, and the Elite she had met with the monster stood at the opening. The Elite was the first to bring his duel plasma pistols up, even though he had apparently been the one to move the Banshee.

Keyes was obviously startled by the Elite's movement but when she spotted Kat, she touched the Elite's arm. "It's OK Arbiter. She is one of us."

The glowing ball suddenly floated towards her, "Ah! Another Reclaimer! And this one has a combat skin that is quite similar to that of the first Reclaimer I met. Would you happen to know him?" The ball suddenly noticed Mat and floated above him. "And another! Where have you all been hiding?"

Kat grew nervous with the alien thing floating so close to Mat and was contemplating shoving the ball away when Sergeant Johnson did it for her. "Back off light bulb." He said, punting the ball away. "Give the boy a rest."

Kat relaxed when everyone finally gave her some space. "I thought you were Shade," the Arbiter smoothly said.

"He's right here." Kat said, motioning to the still form she had protected by kneeling in front of.

"The prophet's pet still lives?" The Arbiter tensed when he noticed Mat's chest rise and fall.

"We are not pets." Kat hissed and the Arbiter seemed to look her over again.

"You are Shadow." The Elite slowly realized.

Kat only gave a nod in response and moved onto more important things. "What happened with the ring?"

"We will explain on the way," Commander Keyes said. "We have to get to a ship."

A buzzing sound suddenly caught her attention and a Phantom rose from below the platform. Kat knew it wasn't much, but she jumped to other side of Mat and raised her pistol. The Phantom loomed closer and the turret turned toward her. There was no way she would survive a hit this close but at least she could shield Mat.

Her COM suddenly clicked on. "Is that any way to treat your meatshield?"

"N'wi!" Kat exclaimed, trying to get a view at the cockpit for confirmation.

"I thought you could use a ride." N'wi sounded smug as the Phantom turned to the side to let passengers board.

"I thought you were dead!" She tried to sound irritated but frankly, Kat was happy to hear his voice. She lifted Mat into her arms and shifted his weight more on her right arm. Her left arm throbbed in pain. Actually, the numbness in her right shoulder was starting to wear off and that was protesting even more to the weight shift.

Thankfully, it was only a few steps to board the aircraft and tuck Mat into a corner of the troop bay. Kat slid next to him and took off her helmet. She was rubbing the area between her eyes when Commander Keyes came to sit on the other side of her.

"You look you've been through the grinder." Keyes said, nodding to Kat's armor. The ex-Spartan looked down at her black armor now stained with blood. Gashes ran through her armor like she had been attacked by a beast. Well, Brutes were close enough to a beast.

"This wasn't my best mission." Kat replied softly, glancing at Mat's ghostly pale face and the crusting blue gel in his hair.

"You still succeeded in staying alive and saving a comrade. I'd say that's good enough." Kat glanced back at Commander Keyes. She held an air of confidence and reassurance. It was comforting that Keyes understood Kat's exhaustion and it relaxed her.

"Now fill me in." Kat said, "What is going on?"

Commander Keyes explained that the rings had been placed on standby, and could be remotely activated by the Ark – which was on Earth.

"So we need to get back to Earth pronto…" Kat murmured and looked up to see the light ball intently gazing at her. "What are you?"

The floating ball perked up, "Greetings, Reclaimer! I am 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Installation-04. Well, until the unfortunate turn of events caused by a Reclaimer very similar to you!"

"Sparky here has been helping us handle the ring issue." Sergeant Johnson noted as he leaned on the floating ball. "And I've become an alien babysitter."

At the mention of alien, Kat looked up to where N'wi and the Arbiter were conversing. "How did you end up on such a mission?" The Arbiter was asking N'wi while the Spec Ops Officer flew the Phantom through the canyon.

"After I questioned the Prophets, they made sure I had no mission that was of importance." N'wi glanced back as Kat approached.

The ex-Spartan walked up behind the cockpit and leaned against a wall for support as the Phantom swerved back and forth through the steep mountain walls. "We, those of the human race, need to get back to Earth to protect our world." She said in a steady voice. "Would you two be willing to assist us in stopping the 'Great Journey' from taking countless lives?"

N'wi grunted at the mention of the Great Journey. "I cannot return to following the Prophets knowing what I do now. I am with you."

The Arbiter seemed to grin in pride at N'wi before turning his head towards Kat. "I've seen the error of blind loyalty, but loyalty to truth is different. I will help stop this lie from taking innocents."

"I assume the other Elites will want to save their people from the 'Great Journey' now that they know it is a lie?" Kat asked, looking between the two allies.

"Indeed they will!" N'wi replied, pressing a few buttons on the console in front of him as they accelerated through a wider part of the canyon. "I requested aid when I sent my brethren to the human base." They pulled out of the canyon and into the wide valley Kat knew too well. Hovering over the human base was a Covenant Battlecruiser. "It seems that Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum was upset to learn the reality about the rings as well."

"How did-?" Kat began to ask.

"I told him." N'wi replied simply. "Rtas trusts me because he was my commander for most of my Spec Ops career." N'wi then motioned at the Arbiter. "I guess it also helped that the Arbiter confirmed the truth."

"Pride does not suit you, N'wi." The Arbiter reprimanded with his smooth tone.

"Neither does it suit you, Thel." N'wi glanced back with humor in his eye.

"Ok, what is going on between you two?" Johnson questioned a few feet away with a gruff scowl. He was gnawing on his cigar and Kat could tell he didn't like being out of loop.

"I grew up with N'wi." The Arbiter replied calmly, not seeming to notice Johnson's sour mood.

"We are practically siblings." N'wi seemed to be grinning as they drew closer to the battlecruiser.

"You all seem to be related somehow." Johnson huffed and looked through the window at the Covenant ship where people were being lifted up the gravity lift. "What are they doing?"

"They are packing up the base. The fight is moving to Earth and so are they." The Arbiter replied in his all-knowing calm voice.

N'wi pressed a button on the console and a COM beeped. "This is N'wi 'Ganam and the Arbiter. Requesting permission to board."

"Go ahead 'Ganam." A resonant voice replied, "I look forward to hearing about your mission."  
N'wi eased the Phantom to slow down as they drew beside the battlecruiser. The cargo bay's force fields disappeared and they pulled into the bigger ship to settle into the docking station.

"Very interesting vessel…" The glowing ball murmured next to Kat's head.

N'wi pressed a few more floating buttons and shut down the Phantom as the others started disembarking. "Rtas has alerted a medical team." He said as he helped Kat carry her fellow Spartan out by each taking an arm over their shoulder. The moment they stepped out of the ship however, the awaiting medical team placed him on a stretcher and whisked him away.

Kat stared after Mat, wondering if she should follow and help before realizing she was being ridiculous. They would take care of Mat better than she could. She was a soldier not a medic. Kat caught N'wi looking at her from the corner of her eye.

"What? Do I have blood on my face?" Kat asked sarcastically, giving the Elite a coy grin.

"Actually, you do." N'wi replied, giving a little head bow. "I am sorry if I stare. I have not seen you without your helmet. You are much different with it off."

"Makes me appear more like a frail human, huh?"

N'wi nodded with somewhat of a grin. "I suppose it does."

"Well it looks like you found our Shadow." A low voice suddenly said to Kat's left. She turned and saw Sergeant Copeland. He had a crutch, a sling around his arm, and a bandage around his head as well as an eye. Even in his sorry state, he still had his back straight and held himself with an air of authority.

"Sergeant Copeland…" Kat eyed the battle hardened Sergeant, "You're better than when I last saw you."

Copeland huffed, "Can't say the same for you." His smile quickly faded though. "You have been requested."

"Requested by whom?" Kat asked but Sergeant Copeland said nothing as he started limping towards one of the cargo bays' side doors.

Kat looked over to N'wi and saw him following as well. He gave a nod that said, 'I don't mind' and continued beside her. She looked over the rest of their party. Johnson was already at home amongst the other marines and Commander Keyes and the Arbiter were deep in discussion as they proceeded to another door. The floating bulb was hovering around the humans.

"So many Reclaimers!" He was chiming excitedly and flew towards a curious marine who had stoped to look at the glowing light. "Hello! I am 343 Guilty Spark! How many Reclaimers are currently on this vessel?"

"Reclaimer?"

"Indeed!"

"No, I'm asking what a Reclaimer is."

"You do not know? You are a Reclaimer." Guilty Spark floated over to another random marine. "He is a Reclaimer." Then he floated over to a nearby Elite. "He is not a Reclaimer."

"Oh! A Human? Not many are left on this ship, or really in general."

"That is most unfortunate." The ball said floating away, murmuring, "It is imperative that we acquire the assistance of more Reclaimers to combat the Meddlers and..."

Sergeant Copeland led the ex-Spartan and the Elite into a purple hallway and then turned into the first doorway. It was a large room with bright light and it had been set up as an infirmary. Surprisingly, there were dozens of injured marines in the room and the same busy doctors and nurses that Kat remembered were rushing around. They must have transferred all their medical equipment to the Covenant ship. Copeland led them to the side of the room where Kat quickly recognized a marine resting on a table.

"Dart…" The name was whispered but the pale marine still opened his brown eyes and grinned up at Kat's face.

"Hey Shadow…" His voice was weak and he was having a hard time keeping the grin on his face.

Kat then noticed the bandage around his abdomen and thigh. "What happened…?"

"He was the first one to see the Brutes coming and was the first one to meet them." Kat glanced over at Sergeant Copeland as he spoke. "He has internal bleeding…the doctor can't stop it."

"I didn't have you to stuff me in a box this time." A weak grin lifted Dart's lips but quickly faded.

"I…I'm sorry Dart." Kat's expression shifted to worry as she carefully put her hand on his. She regretted not being able to protect him.

"It's not your fault Shadow. I would have hid myself in that box if it weren't for you." Dart's eyes were struggling to stay open. "You taught me courage and honor. I was able to stand up for myself for once…" His voice grew fainter as he spoke.

"I'm proud of you, Dart." Kat tightened her jaw.

Dart's eyes did not open again. "Thank you…Shadow…" The words drifted away to silence. He would never wake again.

A hand on her shoulder startled Kat back to reality. She must have been staring for several minutes. She couldn't remember where the time had gone. Her empty blue eyes locked on Sergeant Copeland.

"Let's get you cleaned up."He murmured and Kat said nothing as she was led through motion sensing doors. Someone helped her remove her armor and treat her wounds but she was too numb to really take notice. Then she was left in the small room, sitting on the edge of a bed and staring at a wall.

It was hard to accept death. Kat had been trained to fight against death but to not be phased by it. Dart's death was different. It had got her thinking. How would she accept it when her fight was lost? Could she handle a slow death when she actually expects to die quickly in battle?

"Don't look so somber." A rough, raspy voice said across the room.

Kat's eyes widened and she glanced over to see Mat's calm, unsettled gaze. "Mat!" He was on the second bed in room and Kat was racking her brain as to why she had been so completely unaware.

"What has you in deep thought?" He asked as if they had never been apart. Like Reach had not been overrun, and they were just back from a mission in the colonies.  
Kat studied his pale face that had already gained a bit more color in it. "I was thinking about how I will react to my own death." Mat let a stern grin appear on his face. He had never grinned like that. Kat realized that he had changed after Reach had fell.

"Don't worry about your reaction, Kat. When it comes time, you'll still be fighting it like everyone else."

Kat could only nod and stare at the Spartan who had been on the other side of war like her. "Were you able to fight it?" Her tone grew quiet. "I mean, they didn't have me hooked up like you did but I was still able to break free."

Mat's eyes grew dark at the remembrance and he looked away. "I felt as if I was being crushed the whole time." Then he gazed up at Kat. "I did fight it when I saw you though."

Kat nodded, understanding that it was much different than her experience and a length of silent time stretched by. It was Mat who spoke up first.

"Kat…thanks for bringing me back."

* * *

There it is. The end. I'd like to say sorry for taking so long but life kind of dragged this out. I would also like to say thank you for reading. FF is run by you guys and I appreciate how people can enjoy stories that come from a different head. I won't be producing another Halo-fic any time soon. I believe Master Chief has moved on to new and better things and so should I... *bows*


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